Student-Athlete
Notice anything about that combination of words? Student comes before athlete, good answer. For those that do not know, coaches would prefer to recruit in the next level well-rounded individuals that not only perform within their specific sport but as well in the classroom. Does that mean a High School athlete with a below par academic history but a stellar athletic portfolio won't be recruited by top schools? Of course not, coaches are first and foremost looking for talent that can help launch their programs to
the next level. But what you should realize is the following facts.
By doing well in the classroom you are demonstrating to a future coach signs of responsibility, accountability and time-management skills. All crucial aspects of doing well within a large scale program and team. Coaches that have to continually check up on your failing grades and worry about possibly losing you for upcoming games or the entire season because of your sub-par performance in the classroom aren't going to be happy. Coaches have been through this many times before with many different players and the trend has started to increase towards finding athletes that are performing students as well.
Why Coaches Are Moving Towards Athletes that can Academically Perform
Your performance and past players academic performance within a college program become a huge recruiting tool for each coach. When a coach is recruiting an athlete they love to talk about the team, practices, games, travel, uniform, clothing, alumni and anything else that would be interesting to an 18 year old basketball player. When a coach is recruiting a players parents they love to talk about security and the programs academic record within the school of choice. Parents don't want their kids to go to a school and program that only graduates 10% of their players. Remember only 0.01% of all basketball players go to the NBA, so if only 10% are graduating from a coaches program, where are all the rest going? This is what your parents think about. Your parents want you to excel at the sport you love but they want you to finish your college experience with a degree. When a coach can boast about an 85% graduation rate of all his players over all his years it shows your parents he is not only committed to their child on the court but as well off the court. Coaches want star athletes, bottom line but they also want smart athletes to make their job that much easier.
By doing well in the classroom you increase your chances of possible scholarships at the next level. Remember, coaches have limited scholarships to offer within their programs. Many players on every team are there due to their talent but also do to their own financial backing. It would be a shame if you were asked to join the team under the condition you would not receive a scholarship and could not go due to the inability to pay for your education. Not every family has the ability to pay for college for their children, but you have the ability to do everything you can to achieve success in the classroom now to set yourself up for possible success when the time comes. By setting yourself up you allow a coach at the college level the opportunity to figure out a way to ensure you are able to play for them, be it an athletic-scholarship or them finding academic-scholarships for you to recieve.
By doing well in the classroom you give yourself choices and avenues to travel down. No player thinks of injury but it does and can happen. The athlete that takes care of their academics in high school but becomes injured still has an opportunity to fall back on possible scholarships to still attend college. Your ability to play allows you the ability to receive athletic-scholarships but what happens if you get hurt. Do your chances and dreams disappear? No, not if you as stated did/do everything possible now in High School to set yourself up for success.
By doing well in the classroom you allow yourself entry into the next level. To qualify for admission to a Division I school, you must have satisfactorily completed 16 core courses over your four years in high school. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.
By doing well in the classroom NOW (High School) you give yourself the foundation to prepare for the next level as a possible College Student-Athlete. By learning how to properly study, take tests, read information once and gain the knowledge required, write papers and documents correctly and work within academic groups now you set a foundation that will prove its weight in gold when you reach college. Why do I continually bring this up? Because setting that foundation now means in your lack of free time in college you will have the necessary skills to finish your work.
Lack of free time you say .... Yup, read on please. Let's see how much time you WON'T have in college as a student-athlete!!
Without a doubt the biggest obstacle between scholarship athletes and academic success in college is a lack of time. Think about it: Games, practices, travel, film sessions, weight training, injury and possible recovery treatments, media responsibilities, and alumni/community related duties all come into play to take your time. Now throw in everything else that a normal student has to deal with such as friends, clubs, greek life, leadership opportunities, family, work, having a life, having fun, etc etc etc etc. Its a wonder athletes ever have time for anything outside their sport during the competitive season.
What a normal day might look like for a college student-athlete during the season?
This is a non-game day ... now imagine a game day with media, travel, preparation, every student seeing you on campus and wishing you well or wanting to talk to you. Also that was only 3 meals, you will be eating many more than that through out the day. And don't forget about the time used for traveling to and from everything, bathrooms, dressing, errands and lines (No you aren't a rock-star, you still have to stand in line like everyone else).
We got a little off track but again i want to demonstrate to you how important your ability to set an academic foundation now is to your future growth and success as a college bound student-athlete. It also sounds like a ton of work. It should, because it is. And it isn't for everyone. Understand that you must see your goals and never stop till you accomplish them. Understand that the journey is difficult but in the end it will be one of the greatest events and times in your life. Very few have the opportunity to play an athletic sport in college at the highest level. Follow your dreams and never look back!
M.E.
By doing well in the classroom you are demonstrating to a future coach signs of responsibility, accountability and time-management skills. All crucial aspects of doing well within a large scale program and team. Coaches that have to continually check up on your failing grades and worry about possibly losing you for upcoming games or the entire season because of your sub-par performance in the classroom aren't going to be happy. Coaches have been through this many times before with many different players and the trend has started to increase towards finding athletes that are performing students as well.
Why Coaches Are Moving Towards Athletes that can Academically Perform
Your performance and past players academic performance within a college program become a huge recruiting tool for each coach. When a coach is recruiting an athlete they love to talk about the team, practices, games, travel, uniform, clothing, alumni and anything else that would be interesting to an 18 year old basketball player. When a coach is recruiting a players parents they love to talk about security and the programs academic record within the school of choice. Parents don't want their kids to go to a school and program that only graduates 10% of their players. Remember only 0.01% of all basketball players go to the NBA, so if only 10% are graduating from a coaches program, where are all the rest going? This is what your parents think about. Your parents want you to excel at the sport you love but they want you to finish your college experience with a degree. When a coach can boast about an 85% graduation rate of all his players over all his years it shows your parents he is not only committed to their child on the court but as well off the court. Coaches want star athletes, bottom line but they also want smart athletes to make their job that much easier.
By doing well in the classroom you increase your chances of possible scholarships at the next level. Remember, coaches have limited scholarships to offer within their programs. Many players on every team are there due to their talent but also do to their own financial backing. It would be a shame if you were asked to join the team under the condition you would not receive a scholarship and could not go due to the inability to pay for your education. Not every family has the ability to pay for college for their children, but you have the ability to do everything you can to achieve success in the classroom now to set yourself up for possible success when the time comes. By setting yourself up you allow a coach at the college level the opportunity to figure out a way to ensure you are able to play for them, be it an athletic-scholarship or them finding academic-scholarships for you to recieve.
By doing well in the classroom you give yourself choices and avenues to travel down. No player thinks of injury but it does and can happen. The athlete that takes care of their academics in high school but becomes injured still has an opportunity to fall back on possible scholarships to still attend college. Your ability to play allows you the ability to receive athletic-scholarships but what happens if you get hurt. Do your chances and dreams disappear? No, not if you as stated did/do everything possible now in High School to set yourself up for success.
By doing well in the classroom you allow yourself entry into the next level. To qualify for admission to a Division I school, you must have satisfactorily completed 16 core courses over your four years in high school. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.
By doing well in the classroom NOW (High School) you give yourself the foundation to prepare for the next level as a possible College Student-Athlete. By learning how to properly study, take tests, read information once and gain the knowledge required, write papers and documents correctly and work within academic groups now you set a foundation that will prove its weight in gold when you reach college. Why do I continually bring this up? Because setting that foundation now means in your lack of free time in college you will have the necessary skills to finish your work.
Lack of free time you say .... Yup, read on please. Let's see how much time you WON'T have in college as a student-athlete!!
Without a doubt the biggest obstacle between scholarship athletes and academic success in college is a lack of time. Think about it: Games, practices, travel, film sessions, weight training, injury and possible recovery treatments, media responsibilities, and alumni/community related duties all come into play to take your time. Now throw in everything else that a normal student has to deal with such as friends, clubs, greek life, leadership opportunities, family, work, having a life, having fun, etc etc etc etc. Its a wonder athletes ever have time for anything outside their sport during the competitive season.
What a normal day might look like for a college student-athlete during the season?
- 7am or earlier wake up -- you are an athlete, therefore you are sore, you must stretch and ensure you have no injuries that weren't noticed the day prior plus you have to get ready for the day unless you like to smell.
- 8am -- Breakfast Time, you can no longer skip this meal as an athlete
- 8:30am -- Class begins and as an athlete you must schedule all your classes during the early sessions to leave time for practice in the afternoons. Sleeping in is no longer an option.
- 1:00pm -- Lunch Time and if you skip meals now you will never maintain weight or keep performance
- 1:30pm -- Free Time, you have to get your laundry done and your cleaning up after yourself sooner or later
- 3:00pm -- Practice is Two to Three hours, and don't forget the time before and after practice added in to get dressed, changed, showered, tapped, stretched, etc etc. Probably means you are using some of the "Free Time" to do this stuff.
- 6:00pm -- Weight Room, It never ends
- 7:00pm -- Possible Film Sessions, Team Meetings (Coach or Player Requested)
- 7:45pm -- Dinner, after all that you won't ever think twice about skipping this meal
- 8:30pm or later -- Study Time, group or individually. Every tried to study when you are dead-tired?
- 10-Midnight -- Bedtime, wake up in 7-9 hours to do it all over again!!!!
This is a non-game day ... now imagine a game day with media, travel, preparation, every student seeing you on campus and wishing you well or wanting to talk to you. Also that was only 3 meals, you will be eating many more than that through out the day. And don't forget about the time used for traveling to and from everything, bathrooms, dressing, errands and lines (No you aren't a rock-star, you still have to stand in line like everyone else).
We got a little off track but again i want to demonstrate to you how important your ability to set an academic foundation now is to your future growth and success as a college bound student-athlete. It also sounds like a ton of work. It should, because it is. And it isn't for everyone. Understand that you must see your goals and never stop till you accomplish them. Understand that the journey is difficult but in the end it will be one of the greatest events and times in your life. Very few have the opportunity to play an athletic sport in college at the highest level. Follow your dreams and never look back!
M.E.