ClapDanny Storlien address players, parents and member of the media at Thunder headquarters
February 4, 2009, is the first day that soccer players can sign a National Letter of Intent. By signing a National Letter of Intent, a prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the designated college or university for one academic year. Pursuant to the terms of the National Letter of Intent program, participating institutions agree to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year to the student-athlete, provided he/she is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules. An important provision of the National Letter of Intent program is a recruiting prohibition applied after a prospective student-athlete signs a Letter of Intent. This prohibition requires participating institutions to cease recruitment of a prospective student-athlete once a National Letter of Intent is signed with another institution.
Players from the MTA sign letters of intent in the MN Thunder Atrium
This year the Minnesota Thunder Academy hosted 30 girls, 3 boys, their parents, friends, coaches of MTA as well as Twin Cities Media to celebrate the MTA soccer players who signed letters of intent to play at Division 1 and 2 colleges. The party commenced at 7:00 am so most of the student could still get a full day in at school. On hand were MTA coaches as well as front office personnel for the Minnesota Thunder. Lightning coach Danny Storlien was the MC for the event held in the atrium of the Thunder offices. After introducing MTA staff and coaches, Storlien introduced each player and the school they had committed to. At the end of the introductions, the players did a ceremonial signing of letters of intent. The event was well attended and nicely staged with Minnesota Thunder and Lightning logos as well as the teams sponsors. It was a nice event for these newly recruited high school seniors and their parents.
