ORANGE BEACH — As part of National Signing Day Feb. 1, Orange Beach’s Ryan Hendren locked in his pledge to the Spring Hill Badgers to continue his academic and soccer careers.

The Makos’ senior striker announced his commitment Dec. 30, 2022, after he went to campus for a visit to take in one of Spring Hill’s matches.

“Their head coach (Chris Leonardi) hit me up and just wanted to talk things out, give me a tour of the campus and go to a game,” Hendren said after the signing ceremony. “I enjoyed it more than I thought I would have and they continued to sell the program to me from there.”

The Badgers qualified for the Gulf South Conference’s postseason tournament last season as the No. 8 seed and ultimately fell in the quarterfinals to top-seeded West Florida. Hendren looked forward to joining the program and upping his skillset as well.

“To become a better player, to push myself to push the limits that I thought I had,” Hendren said of his goals. “Obviously to get better grades and to become a great student but also to be on that level of soccer that I need to be at.”

He’s helped the Orange Beach soccer squad catch its stride as a young program as well where the Makos went 6-6 in Class 1A/3A Area 1 last season for fourth place in the seven-team group. Hendren also marks the first soccer player from Orange Beach to sign with a college squad.

“It's the beginning of the program so you've got to set the foundation and I'm just glad to be a part of that,” Hendren said.

Now in Class 4A Area 1, Hendren hoped to take another step this season while fighting against Bayside Academy, St. Michael, Satsuma and UMS-Wright for postseason seeding. The Makos have started the 2023 season at 1-1-1 with a 5-1 win over Elberta, a 2-2 tie to MGM and a 5-1 loss to Elberta.

“Make it to the playoffs, obviously win state, but that's something that the me and the team are going to have to work through together,” Hendren said of what he wanted to achieve in his senior campaign.

The newest Spring Hill soccer signee said he was most excited about what was to come.

“It feels great, I can't wait to see what's next for me,” Hendren said.