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The Reality Of Being A College Athlete: It's Not All Fun And Games

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    #16
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    There are two important issues for student athlete's I think good to mention.

    1) Balancing the athletic and academic commitments works out for some students and not others, and some times but not all the time. Student athletes often can't handle it, or have things go poorly because of injury or poorly considered course choices. For example, concussions are a very serious problem, very often resulting in withdrawal for a semester to recover. Even when it all is going well, some bad luck can make a mess of it.
    2) There are tradeoffs - a student can't do it all. So, if he/she wants to take that extra hard math or chemistry course, the graduate level course with the famous professor, etc., well, its often not going to work with the athletic commitment. And so every student, especially the academically oriented ones, has to also deal with the fact that soccer ends in the Fall of senior year, but the education that is lost to sports affects a lifetime.
    Your points are well taken. The most important thing to probably come to grips with is when you are an athlete you just aren't a "normal" student no matter what level you play at. As you note, there are a lot of sacrifices that ultimately result in the athletes getting a different quality of education compared to those "normal" students at their school. That difference could be minor or it could be significant, a lot depends upon the student and how hard they want to push their academics but even the most diligent student/athletes are going to have to compromise their academic pursuits to some degree to pursue their athletic goals. It's a given and everyone should be clear that those compromises do result in a loss that can never fully be made up.

    Comment


      #17
      This writer make its out to seem like hell. Yes it does suck at times. But no you don't run everytime you skip a class. During the spring and winter the time is much more relaxed in the sense that practices aren't as long and you can't practice on the weekend. No, you do not lift everyday max would be 5 days a week but I'm sure at most schools it's 3-4 and lifts generally are usually an hour or less so it's not terrible unless you wake up at the crack of dawn which is the case sometimes (although I've read studies that actually it is not best for you to work out early in the morning). Technically, in the fall you can hold practices up until the national crown is crowned but many coaches give ample time off for finals. The same goes for in the spring, once your last spring game has occurred (generally anywhere between 2 weeks and a month left of school) you are done and can only hold optional "captain practices" and lifts which are not as intense.

      Some professors are more laid back for athletes and help them out, especially if they like your sport. Getting into parties (yes athletes do have social lives) is easier. Everyone does know the athletes and regardless of the sport, they are looked rather highly on so yes, we do have to be good role models but we are adults now so we should be anyways.

      I get it, being a college athlete is difficult but this author is coming off as almost whiny, but everything we are given far outweighs the challenges and difficulties.

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        This writer make its out to seem like hell. Yes it does suck at times. But no you don't run everytime you skip a class. During the spring and winter the time is much more relaxed in the sense that practices aren't as long and you can't practice on the weekend. No, you do not lift everyday max would be 5 days a week but I'm sure at most schools it's 3-4 and lifts generally are usually an hour or less so it's not terrible unless you wake up at the crack of dawn which is the case sometimes (although I've read studies that actually it is not best for you to work out early in the morning). Technically, in the fall you can hold practices up until the national crown is crowned but many coaches give ample time off for finals. The same goes for in the spring, once your last spring game has occurred (generally anywhere between 2 weeks and a month left of school) you are done and can only hold optional "captain practices" and lifts which are not as intense.

        Some professors are more laid back for athletes and help them out, especially if they like your sport. Getting into parties (yes athletes do have social lives) is easier. Everyone does know the athletes and regardless of the sport, they are looked rather highly on so yes, we do have to be good role models but we are adults now so we should be anyways.

        I get it, being a college athlete is difficult but this author is coming off as almost whiny, but everything we are given far outweighs the challenges and difficulties.
        Many, if not most, D1 recruits do give up the sport. The reasons are well explained. Some stay with it, as for them, the plusses outweigh the minuses. As with most things, it very much depends on the individual.

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          This writer make its out to seem like hell. Yes it does suck at times. But no you don't run everytime you skip a class. During the spring and winter the time is much more relaxed in the sense that practices aren't as long and you can't practice on the weekend. No, you do not lift everyday max would be 5 days a week but I'm sure at most schools it's 3-4 and lifts generally are usually an hour or less so it's not terrible unless you wake up at the crack of dawn which is the case sometimes (although I've read studies that actually it is not best for you to work out early in the morning). Technically, in the fall you can hold practices up until the national crown is crowned but many coaches give ample time off for finals. The same goes for in the spring, once your last spring game has occurred (generally anywhere between 2 weeks and a month left of school) you are done and can only hold optional "captain practices" and lifts which are not as intense.

          Some professors are more laid back for athletes and help them out, especially if they like your sport. Getting into parties (yes athletes do have social lives) is easier. Everyone does know the athletes and regardless of the sport, they are looked rather highly on so yes, we do have to be good role models but we are adults now so we should be anyways.

          I get it, being a college athlete is difficult but this author is coming off as almost whiny, but everything we are given far outweighs the challenges and difficulties.
          Please cite your relevant experience so everyone can understand how much or how little you actually know. There is a huge difference between the levels of intensity even within D1 and there are obviously wide variations in coaching styles. I played a sport at the D1 level in college and can confirm that conditioning was used in our program as a punishment for everything from not going to breakfast to poor practice performance. Granted it wasn't an every day occurrence but we had a thing called the "breakfast club" where a coach would meet players who had gotten into trouble for disciplinary action at the break of dawn and just run them until they couldn't move no more. That coach made sure that you only made that mistake once. On a more routine basis (almost daily) you would always see players off running "punishment" sprints during practice and when it came time for conditioning we periodically had extra reps added for every conceivable reason from losing a game to someone farted the wrong way. I think you are being a little foolhardy not believing what the woman wrote about her experience. That seems to be a common occurrence on this site.

          Comment


            #20
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            The Reality Of Being A College Athlete: It's Not All Fun And Games

            Kaitlyn Sibson

            https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the...ollege-athlete

            College Athletes. They have a perfect life. They receive tons of gear, get special attention from professors, have tons of friends and have unique privileges that no other students have. This is the image that a majority of people have about student athletes in college. However, as a collegiate athlete myself, I can tell you this is so far from reality. Here is what it is really like to be a student-athlete in college…

            You’re always in season. Yes, everyone thinks you only have a certain number of games and your season lasts for 2-4 months. But what they don’t know is that while you may only have games for those months, the rest of the year you have to train to be in the best shape you can be for when you are “in season”. You have to eat healthy, workout every day and keep practicing in order to maintain your skills, endurance and strength. So no, we don’t have an off season.

            You have long stressful days. However, your classmate doesn’t think so because he has four classes, work, and studying to do. But what your classmate doesn’t understand is that you have 6 a.m lifting. Which means waking up at 5 a.m, and then after lifting you have to go to your classes. No, you can’t skip your class even though you are exhausted from waking up before sunrise every day that week, because if you skip you don’t get to practice or play that week. So you go to class, and after you try to squeeze in lunch or maybe a 20 minute nap before you head back to the gym or field for practice. You then put yourself through a two to three-hour practice. Practice ends. You are now physically and mentally exhausted, but you are not done, because you have to shower, eat, and study or do homework before you finally hit the hay, only to wake up in a few short hours to do it all over again.

            Your every move is watched. There is no room to mess up, but many think that collegiate athletes are exempt from having real responsibilities. What they don’t know is that when your teammate misses a class, you are going to run until you puke. Someone is late to practice, run until you puke. Have a bad practice, run until you puke. And then as if that wasn’t enough, at practice, you condition before, you condition for punishment, you condition if you lose a drill, and you condition if your coach feels like it. Also, you are a student-athlete, right? Your coach will emphasize that school comes first, and so you better do well in your classes but don’t you dare slack off at practice because you were up until 3 a.m studying for that test. It's a never-ending cycle of finding a balance between being a student and being an athlete. So no, we are not exempt from responsibilities.

            You don’t ever get a break. Coach canceled practice today, but you still don’t have the day off. You have to go to the athletic training room for rehab on that constant ache and pain. You have to take the recruit around and convince them to play at your school. You have to have a meeting with your coach. You have to watch film for the game that upcoming week. You are always doing something for your sport, so when practice is cancelled, is it really cancelled?

            You don’t have many friends. You miss a majority of the social events, you are too tired in class to mingle, and you are consistently with your teammates. Therefore, they are your only friends.

            You really don’t have privileges. You have to go to every class. You have to do well in school in order to stay on the team. You don’t miss practice. You have to attend every team event. You have to eat healthy. You have to work out on top of practicing. You have to find time for sleep. You have to take care of your body to prevent injuries. You have to miss social events for practice and games. You have to set an example for future recruits and the student body. So, what are privileges?

            This is what it's really like to be a collegiate athlete. But we do it because we love our sport and all the things that we don’t get to do are made better by being able to compete with people you love at a high level. So when people think you have the easiest, most luxurious life as a student athlete, let it slide, because they don’t get to experience what it is like to make a game-winning shot and hear the crowd roar behind them.
            Spare me the pity party. This is like when a movie star talks about how tough it is.

            -- Pathfinder

            Comment


              #21
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              Spare me the pity party. This is like when a movie star talks about how tough it is.

              -- Pathfinder
              Exactly.

              Comment


                #22
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                Please cite your relevant experience so everyone can understand how much or how little you actually know. There is a huge difference between the levels of intensity even within D1 and there are obviously wide variations in coaching styles. I played a sport at the D1 level in college and can confirm that conditioning was used in our program as a punishment for everything from not going to breakfast to poor practice performance. Granted it wasn't an every day occurrence but we had a thing called the "breakfast club" where a coach would meet players who had gotten into trouble for disciplinary action at the break of dawn and just run them until they couldn't move no more. That coach made sure that you only made that mistake once. On a more routine basis (almost daily) you would always see players off running "punishment" sprints during practice and when it came time for conditioning we periodically had extra reps added for every conceivable reason from losing a game to someone farted the wrong way. I think you are being a little foolhardy not believing what the woman wrote about her experience. That seems to be a common occurrence on this site.
                And just like yourself, every D1 athlete serves after graduation as a Navy Seal.

                Comment


                  #23
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  There are two important issues for student athlete's I think good to mention.

                  1) Balancing the athletic and academic commitments works out for some students and not others, and some times but not all the time. Student athletes often can't handle it, or have things go poorly because of injury or poorly considered course choices. For example, concussions are a very serious problem, very often resulting in withdrawal for a semester to recover. Even when it all is going well, some bad luck can make a mess of it.
                  2) There are tradeoffs - a student can't do it all. So, if he/she wants to take that extra hard math or chemistry course, the graduate level course with the famous professor, etc., well, its often not going to work with the athletic commitment. And so every student, especially the academically oriented ones, has to also deal with the fact that soccer ends in the Fall of senior year, but the education that is lost to sports affects a lifetime.
                  Education lost? Why can't you keep going to school? What is lost is a narrow window your body can play at a high level. Carpe Diem

                  -- Pathfinder

                  Comment


                    #24
                    This notion that only athletes are sacrificing is silly. There are people that are working their way through school. There are others that are raising a family and still others that have to care for elderly parents.

                    A Student-athlete is blessed that they can play a sport in college.

                    Bask in the gift and enjoy every moment because if you don't step aside and someone else will.

                    -- Pathfinder

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Please cite your relevant experience so everyone can understand how much or how little you actually know. There is a huge difference between the levels of intensity even within D1 and there are obviously wide variations in coaching styles. I played a sport at the D1 level in college and can confirm that conditioning was used in our program as a punishment for everything from not going to breakfast to poor practice performance. Granted it wasn't an every day occurrence but we had a thing called the "breakfast club" where a coach would meet players who had gotten into trouble for disciplinary action at the break of dawn and just run them until they couldn't move no more. That coach made sure that you only made that mistake once. On a more routine basis (almost daily) you would always see players off running "punishment" sprints during practice and when it came time for conditioning we periodically had extra reps added for every conceivable reason from losing a game to someone farted the wrong way. I think you are being a little foolhardy not believing what the woman wrote about her experience. That seems to be a common occurrence on this site.
                      Yeah, I currently play D1 soccer so I am quite informed. Being told to do extra running for missing something or not doing something is grueling but not cutting much into time. Coaches vary on their styles. So while I'm not doubting her circumstances it's unfair for her to generalize everyone's.

                      Comment


                        #27
                        or how about this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKSJd6ghIUE

                        Comment


                          #28
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          Love it. This goof ball is playing while everyone else is working. Don't know if he is an indictment of D3 sports or just of tennis players in general.

                          Comment


                            #29
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Yeah, I currently play D1 soccer so I am quite informed. Being told to do extra running for missing something or not doing something is grueling but not cutting much into time. Coaches vary on their styles. So while I'm not doubting her circumstances it's unfair for her to generalize everyone's.
                            Must not be at Rutgers then

                            http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/los...-rice-18893923

                            Didn't BU and BC just run coaches like this off within the past couple of years?

                            Comment


                              #30
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Must not be at Rutgers then

                              http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/los...-rice-18893923

                              Didn't BU and BC just run coaches like this off within the past couple of years?
                              Yes, but I think there's a difference between making a player run for say missing a class or practice and making a player run just to run and scream things at him. One can teach discipline, the other has no place in any environment.

                              Comment

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