By Brett Shweky/Sports Director
The transition from high school to college can be a challenging period for almost every incoming freshman. Collegiate athletes are no exception to this as their transition can prove to be just as difficult as the average student.
From the amount of time each athlete spends at practice to the countless hours they dedicate to maintain an acceptable GPA, being a college player is equivalent to working a full-time job and more.
“The biggest thing for a freshman is time management because you’re going to be put into a routine that you’ve never seen before,” said Assistant Football Head Coach Allen Mogridge. “Especially coming out of your last part of your senior year, where football is over now then you make it to graduation and there comes a lot of freedom with that. Then all of a sudden you come here and it’s kind of like every second of your life is planned. You’re going be in a meeting here, then you’ll have another meeting here, you’re going be at practice here, you got weights here, classes are here, study hall’s there, and all of a sudden you look up as a freshman and you’ve never had this much structure.”
Coach Mogridge went on to explain that when it comes to freshman players, a key for them as individuals is to be patient with the transition process.
“You have to be patient with it, like Coach Davis says all the time you have to water the bamboo. You just keep watering it,” explained Mogridge. “It may take seven years for the bamboo to sprout, but you just keep watering them. Of course none of them are going to take seven years, but what we’re going to do is keep cultivating them, keep growing them, and keep developing them.
There is also the health and nutrition aspect that many athletes will need to address going to college. In high school, many players will be able to get away with eating almost anything they desire. However, in college sports, many universities establish nutritional plans for their athletes in order to assist them in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
To go along with the nutritional and dietary plans the universities create for the athletes, an advanced training regimen is also set in place. Many student-athletes have reported that they can practice at 27 to 42 hours each week, according to the NCAA’s Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations and Learning of Students in College program. Incredibly enough, these hours do not include non-athletic activities such as meetings with coaches, team functions, film-study, and travel which could potentially be another 10 hours on top of their weekly schedule.
Student-athletes are also faced with challenges that a typical college student would have to endure. In many occasions college athletes move to their university from places that stretch across the globe. So the hardships of living on your own also play a significant factor in the transitional period for student-athletes.
Most importantly, student-athletes must also maintain a certain GPA to remain eligible to play through division-one college sports. Along with every incoming freshman, the transition in academics can also prove to be difficult. The average college student spends about 17 hours a week on studying, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement’s findings in 2014. Of course this can vary from student-to-student, nonetheless a significant part of a student’s life is dedicated to their studies.
The average college student spends about 17 hours a week on studying, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement’s findings in 2014. Of course, this can vary from student-to-student. Nonetheless, a significant part of a student’s life is dedicated to their studies.