Why Being a Collegiate Athlete is not for Everyone
A dream of most student athletes is to play their favorite sport on a collegiate or professional level. The most dedicated student athletes in high school are sometimes lucky enough to earn scholarships and offers from colleges to play on one of their sports teams. But is this lifestyle worth it for every athlete recruited?
The expectations of these students from their recruiters and their future schools are extremely high, with them going through a year round cycle of conditioning, scrimmages, maintaining a healthy diet, and of course, the regular season and daily practice.
There are very popular colleges and universities that have traditions of being talented in certain sports. In basketball, the top athletes at schools such as Duke, UNC, Michigan and Kentucky are expected to be dominant teams and get far in the annual March Madness tournament.
Then in football, schools such as Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Auburn are almost always competing for the National Championship.
There has been a lot of discussion regarding athletes at these top schools and their performance in the classroom. These athletes, especially basketball players, are on the road very often so they are not always at their respective schools for classes.
Because of this there are tutors that travel with the teams so the players do not get behind in their classes. While this can be helpful, it is not the most complete way of teaching them the material so they are at a risk of getting behind very easily. Academic scandals have been common in the past because of this, due to athletes having to maintain a certain GPA to be able to participate in athletics.
Another big problem of being a student athlete can be the mental toll it takes on the students. Most nights they do not get much sleep as they have early morning practices and weightlifting, followed by a day full of classes and then practice sometimes in the evening.
The NCAA released a short media advertisement that inaccurately portrayed the life of the athletes, as they made it seem very glamorous and honorable. Even though it is a very honorable thing to be apart of, many athletes made statements and comments attacking the organization for representing them wrongly as their days as a student athlete can be very brutal and tiring.
One of the biggest controversies that was resolved, up until recently, was that they do not get paid any money. The best and flashiest athletes that build a school’s reputation in athletics and draw fans to their games do not get paid a single dime. Not all athletes are on scholarships either, so they still have to pay all the expenses to attend the school.
Out of everything that was listed, being a student athlete is a rigorous challenge that can be very rewarding in many ways. The lessons you learn and the mindset you develop can take you far in life and is a fun experience. With that being said, if you are not a person that is deeply committed to the sport you play and sacrifice a lot of time and effort into it then it may not be something you want to do.