NEW MADISON – Tri-Village’s Aiden Collins, the son of Shannon and Anthony Collins signed to continue his education while taking his golf game to the next level playing for the IU East Red Wolves men’s golf program.
“It has always an aspiration of mine,” Collins said of his signing day. “I have been looking to have my own signing day for years. It’s definitely a nice surprise. I feel like I put the work in and it all worked out.”
“Aiden has been a great kid for me, he has worked extremely hard, super intelligent and a lot of skill,” said Tri-Village boys golf coach, Logan Brubaker. “He has been kind of a golf junkie since his freshman year. I am proud of him and I am excited for him and excited to watch him at the next level.”
“I have heard such great things about Aiden not related to golf,” said IU East golf coach, Jeff Williams. “We are real happy to have him.”
“Aiden has been a kid that has worked really hard at golf over the last three years,” said Tri-Village Athletic Director, Brad Gray. “He spent a lot more time trying to become a better golfer and it has paid off for him.”
“I know Coach Brubaker is excited about this day because it’s the first kid that he has had go on to play college golf – so for our golf program it’s a big day for Aiden and his family, and obviously for Tri-Village Athletics it’s a big day,” Gray added.
Collins plans to study Business with a concentration in Marketing and Finance while playing Red Wolves golf.
“Aiden came over and played with a couple of our players,” said Coach Williams. “I heard nothing but good things from our players having gotten to know him and everybody knows the best place to meet somebody and really get to know them is on a golf course – sometimes. They went out and played with Aiden and were the same way, very complementary and they are look forward to having Aiden as a teammate.”
“Aiden was our leader, he’s our vocal leader by far and he is a joy to coach,” Brubaker noted. “I put a lot of trust in him, put a lot of responsibility on him and he always stepped up to the plate.”
“It is definitely a very individual sport,” Aiden said of the sport of golf. “I have always had a certain mental edge. Coach Brubaker helped me develop that a lot through the years and other than that just on my own, getting out and playing rounds – moving dirt. I would go out anytime the weather was decent if it wasn’t below 30 and it wasn’t snowing – I was on the course.”
Collins looks forward to the challenges awaiting him at the next level of the sport he loves.
“I see myself as a young leader,” Collins said. “I’ll go in there and keep doing the same things I did for our team. I’ll show up, do all the extra work and I would like to get into some rounds early in the year. I think as I go through my college time I will definitely get some more playing time. We have a lot of guys coming out next year but I feel like I will be a nice little sleeper weapon coming off when I need to be.”
Collins took time to thank the many that helped him reach his goal of playing college golf.
“I want to thank my parents and my uncle Kirt Chronister,” Collins stated. “He was the one that originally got me into the game – I owe him a lot. I owe my grandpa James Chronister a lot, my coach Logan Brubaker has done a lot for me, and my buddies on the team, especially by buddy Dylan Holsapple. He was always there and helped support me whenever I needed it.”
IU East Coach Williams is not only pleased to have Collins join the men’s golf team but is always looking for good talent to join the program.
“One of the easiest ways is on our website,” Williams said of getting connected. “There is a recruiting page they can click on, send in all their information. We stay in contact with a lot of the area golfers and golf teams as well and in the case of Aiden, when Aiden applied he talked to his counselor. He told his counselor he is interested in golf so she contacted me right away and we got together – so it happens all different kinds of ways.”
