Quartz Hill graduate Cameron Harris felt the pressure from the college recruiting process. The pressure intensified when it took longer for Harris to make his decision and he could not participate in a larger signing ceremony with several of his classmates on Feb. 8 at the Quartz Hill High School library.
It took Harris about a month longer to finalize his decision, committing to play soccer at Dominican University in San Rafael in mid-March. “Honestly, it was really relaxing,” Harris said of his decision. “I felt relieved.
I was under a lot of stress, because senior year was closing down.” Harris said not being able to participate with his classmates added more pressure to his decision. “It actually did, honestly,” he said.
“Especially seeing some girls and some other guys from our sports program and no one from soccer and I was the captain. In the moment, they didn’t see me signing.” Harris said it ultimately was an easy decision for him.
“I think so,” he said. “All the coaches treated me (well) when I went up and visited and how they kept in communication, not once a week, but it was fairly often. I enjoyed that.
They did a good job. “It showed how much the program wanted me. Some programs, I had to reach out to them first, but they reached out to me and they saw me at a showcase.
Most other schools, you have to reach out to them and keep emailing them. This school was really mature.” Harris was still communicating with other schools when he made his choice.
“I was almost on the verge of still talking, almost getting an offer from some schools,” he said. “But they gave me a deadline to commit, so I committed way earlier than normal schools, their deadline.” Dominican University, a Division II college, made Harris an offer that paid for more of his schooling, which was a big factor.
“Honestly, what they offered me, I didn’t have to pay for a lot, so I think that was the deciding factor,” Harris said. Dominican University first saw Harris at a showcase in San Diego when he was playing with his club team, LAFC So Cal, in the summer of 2023. “They kept in contact and came to another showcase in November,” Harris said.
“They asked if they could get me on a visit in mid-December. That’s when they offered me. I had the rest of the time to weigh my options.
” Harris played three years of varsity soccer at Quartz Hill and about a year and a half on the club team LAFC So Cal. Quartz Hill won the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship in 2023, beating Los Alamitos 3-2 in the title match “I was looking for a program that liked how I played,” Harris said. “They just liked how natural I was and I didn’t want to force anything.
They reached out to me. I liked that. They wanted me.
I wasn’t chasing them at first.” The Penguins (8-5-4) finished fourth in the PacWest Conference last year with a 6-2-2 record. Harris said he has not been guaranteed that he will play right away.
“He didn’t guarantee anything,” Harris said. “I always know that I have to go and work my hardest to prove what I’ve got and show what I’m capable of, hopefully. I’ve been training a lot.
” The campus is about 20 minutes from San Francisco. “It was really nice,” Harris said of the campus. “I’ve never been to NorCal.
That was my first time. It was beautiful.” Harris said he didn’t want to go to school too far away.
“Any school that was far away, I honestly had like no interest,” he said. “I was wanting to push for California. “Even though it’s fairly far, it’s not that far.
I know my parents can just fly in and come visit me sometimes. That was a big part.” He is undecided on what his major will be, bu said he is interested in science or possibly kinesiology.
“That is pretty broad for an athlete,” Harris said of kinesiology. “I do want to learn about all the different muscles and all that.” Harris has to report to the school on Aug.
11. “I’m like really nervous, just to leave my family,” Harris said. “I know once I’m settled down, I’ll be OK there.
I’m also excited, so I’m both. “Thank you to my parents. Just to commute all the way down to Woodland Hills three times a week was a lot, after school.
(Thanks to) my teammates and coaches.”.
