posted on: August 27, 2016
author: Brian Lomax, Ed.D.
This summer, Hayden Steward of St. Michael’s College in Vermont was an intern for PerformanceXtra. As part of his internship, he wrote the following blog post to assist those athletes who are entering their first year of college sports, with some of the challenges they will inevitably face. If you’d like to ask Hayden for more information and tips on managing college life, you can email him at thstew3@gmail.com.
It’s the end of August. You think back to all of the hard work you put in during your senior year of high school. You worked all year to get into your university of choice. You worked your butt off at practice and it paid off during the season. You trained through the dog days of summer. You have picked your classes; you have sent messages back and forth to your new roommate. You even went on an orientation trip to meet some new classmates. You are ready to go to college. But are you ready to be a college athlete?
Going to college is a huge change in your life. The adjustment is different for everyone and it may take time to find what is best for you. As a freshman student athlete, moving on from high school may be difficult because the experience is so different. In high school, I had practice right after school at around 4 o’clock. Last season in college, I had practice till 9:30 pm every day. It was difficult at first, but I was able to develop the necessary skills to deal with it and find what worked for me.
Although there is no best way to tackle being a student-athlete, here are a few tips that worked for me and that I wish I knew going into my first year:
An important skill to master in college (and in life) is the skill of energy management. What do I mean by energy management? Well, if you break it down into simple terms, humans spend their day expending energy and recovering energy. You expend energy when you practice your sport, hit the gym, walk to the dining hall, or think and learn in the classroom. You are recovering energy in the down time: getting a water break after running sprints, eating a meal, and most importantly, sleep. It is essential to find the right balance between expending and recovering energy during your day.
Some may say “why not just refer to this concept as time management?” Glad you asked. Time management is about making a schedule that works best for you. Now, that is all well and good and I would suggest doing this, however some people get the wrong impression. They feel they need to be doing something all the time, and jam pack their day right up until they go to bed. You need to build in recovery time during your day to be a successful collegiate athlete. Set aside some time for a 20 to 30-minute nap. Take a break from studying and have some apple slices and peanut butter. Energy management is about making sure you do things that make you feel good and rested so when you do have practice, class or a lifting session for example, you have maximum energy.
One item I want to emphasize is sleep. Sleep is incredibly important. Getting a good night of sleep can be the difference between a successful day and a bad one. There is never any shame in going to bed early. There are a lot of things that may be happening, especially on the weekends, but finding the time to get a full night’s sleep should take precedence for athletes. The National Sleep Foundation (2013) recommends teens to get 9.25 hours of sleep every night. However, a survey found that only 15% get at least 8.5 hours of sleep during the week. It is not easy, but carving out more time to sleep will make everything you have to do during the day much easier. Consider having regular times for going to bed and for waking up.
Something that I found to be essential to my success at school and as a collegiate athlete was finding time to do other hobbies or things that interested me. This could be a myriad of different things: going for a hike, driving around campus or even just walking around the surrounding town or city. As a student athlete, you are in class all day, then you have practice plus homework on top of everything. Not everything you do needs to be centered on your studies or your sport. You need to find some time for yourself to get your mind off of your responsibilities. Some suggestions I have are:
Don’t get me wrong – studying is vital! And practicing hard is essential. But in order to perform your best, you need to find ways to get your mind off what you need to do and get out there and do something you want to do.
Another tip I found to be helpful in my first year of college was building a relationship with my professors. As an athlete, you will have times when you have to miss class for a game. In my experience, most professors will be understanding. However, they still need to know about your game schedule ahead of time. This will save you many headaches and awkward conversations. Getting to know the professors will help you tremendously in learning more and getting the grades you want. Professors like when their students take initiative and see them after class or meet them during their office hours. They will help you understand the material and will work with you if you need to miss class due to games. This is also important: when missing class due to a game, do not tell your professor you are missing class. Instead, ask if it is alright to miss class due to your game. You are at school to learn just as much as you are there to play your sport so be polite in how you ask to miss a day of class.
A strong connection with your coaches can make or break your season, so it is important to get to know your coach, but to also let him/her get to know you. It can be intimidating going to a new environment and performing at a high level. Talk to your coaches. Let them know what you are thinking. Just like professors, coaches like when their athletes take initiative. Also, do not forget that you have one or two coaches to worry about, while your coaches may have between 10 to 30 athletes they have to keep track of, depending on the sport. Show your coaches that you care about success and that you want to be the best you can be while also helping the team. It will go a long way.
It is essential for any college student to get involved on campus and it is even more important as a student athlete. Every college has so much to offer in terms of clubs or organizations you can join. You will not regret carving out some time to join the wilderness club or volunteer to work with children in the area for example. As a student athlete, you should take advantage of these opportunities. It is important to play to your strengths off the field/court as well, so find something you are good at and have fun with it. In these clubs, you will also be able to meet new people outside of your classes and outside of your team. You’ll be part of a new community of people and it could help build your resume.
In additions to clubs and organizations on campus, look into the various services that your school offers such as academic and career services. Never hesitate in asking for help. There are so many people at your future school that want to see you succeed and want you to be able to find that success. So go find where Academic Services is in the first week and take advantage of their help. Use everything you can and it will vastly improve your college experience. You are not expected to know how to do everything so ask for help, you will not regret it.
Success for a college athlete is not easily found. There are many obstacles on the road to success. Sometimes it feels like there is never enough time for everything, but I can assure you that is not the case. Ask for help. Find your passion and carve out time for it. Go to bed early as often as you can. Find out what makes you the best student and the best athlete, and make a plan. Remember to:
College is an incredible time in your life. So make the best of it. And as an athlete you may have a tougher time of it, but that is what you signed up for! Always play to your strengths and success will follow you along the way.
References:
The Foundation for Global Sports Development (2013, October 29). A Good Night’s Sleep for Student Athlete. Retrieved from: http://globalsportsdevelopment.org/good-nights-sleep-student-athletes/
Dr. Brian Lomax founded PerformanceXtra™ in 2009 with a mission of helping athletes achieve their goals and their top performances more consistently through a progression of mental skills that enables them to focus on what is truly important.
Learn more about the author: https://performancextra.com/brian-lomax/