Royster-Crockett continues career

Courtesy, Latasha Edwards, The FAMUAN

Student travels overseas to pursue professional dream in league

After being kicked off the Florida A&M University's volleyball team, Marrita Royster-Crocket could have wasted her talents, but instead she decided to take them overseas to Switzerland to pursue her dreams. Royster-Crockett was dismissed by the athletic department after being classified as academically ineligible last year.

"They told us we have to declare a major after August of our junior year to be academically eligible," said Royster-Crockett, a 20 year old, senior broadcast student from Tallahassee. "My transcript read pre-journalism instead of broadcast journalism. It was a technical error." That error cost Royster-Crockett both academically and athletically. She lost her scholarship because she was not allowed to practice and she was still unable to be a part of the team. She missed the whole season.

According to Alvin Hollins, assistant athletic director of media relations, the Athletic Department could not comment because the information is confidential. In October 2007, she was told her ineligibility was a mistake but she already missed half of the season. Royster-Crockett asked to be red shirted following the mix-up. A red shirt is when a player has five academic years, but skips a year of play without losing a year of eligibility.

Marrita Royster-Crockett was a sophomore Florida State University transfer student-athlete who earned First Team All-MEAC honors in her first season with the Lady Rattlers and made an appearance in the 2006 NCAA Championship at Florida. The 6-0/outside hitter averaged averaged 4.72 kills per game while hitting .270 and averaging 1.96 digs per game in her last season with the Lady Rattlers.

"They ended up giving me my red shirt and my coach stop contacting me," Royster-Crockett said. "They told me not to practice with the team and wait until next fall."

With a burning desire to continue her career on the court, Royster-Crockett turned to her mother Rita Buck-Crockett, a volleyball agent and two-time Olympian. Buck-Crockett decided to contact Techlaser in Cheseaux, a national team in Switzerland to prevent her daughter from ending her volleyball career.

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