Stress. Every college student’s worst nightmare. It’s unavoidable, but for student athletes, the strain is even more evident, because of their added responsibilities. Between classes, homework, part-time jobs, and whatever else is going on in their social lives, it is no wonder that, according to the Department of Education, over 30 percent of college freshmen drop out or transfer within their first year of college. Add athletics into the mix, and see what happens. There is no doubt that playing a collegiate sport is a great honor; however, many students do not understand what they are getting themselves into when they sign up to play.
By Jessie Krehlik
News Editor
Stress. Every college student’s worst nightmare. It’s unavoidable, but for student athletes, the strain is even more evident, because of their added responsibilities. Between classes, homework, part-time jobs, and whatever else is going on in their social lives, it is no wonder that, according to the Department of Education, over 30 percent of college freshmen drop out or transfer within their first year of college. Add athletics into the mix, and see what happens. There is no doubt that playing a collegiate sport is a great honor; however, many students do not understand what they are getting themselves into when they sign up to play.
Seton Hill Students who are members of the NCAA have a lot going on. According to ncaastudent.org, the NCAA agrees that academics are a priority over athletics; however, “We encourage you to think about participating in a college sport because we know that the teamwork, focus and discipline you learn on the field can help you throughout your life in ways that lessons from the classroom can’t.”
Seton Hill went through some major transitions when it went from being NAIA women’s only athletics to NCAA with men’s athletics. According to women’s golf coach, Carolyn Thompson, who also coached basketball and taught at IUP for several years before coming to SHU in 2008, everything changed with the inclusion of football, particularly with professors. They became less flexible. “A lot of us respond in ways that are not usual to how we respond, due to the very different culture that we find ourselves teaching and coaching in today,” she said.
Decades ago, when our parents were attending high school and college, most sports lasted for one season (spring or fall), but now, a lot of sports have seasons during both semesters. For example, women’s golf members have matches during the fall, but their official championship segment does not start until mid-to-late March. The same is similar for many of the other sports offered here at Seton Hill.
For student athletes, the majority of their days are filled with classes, practice, homework, and the occasional spare hour for socializing. Yet, somehow, many student athletes not only attend classes, but also excel in them. In fact, many of our student athletes are members of the Honors Program, which means they find themselves challenging their minds even more so than the average student.
Although it is manageable to fit a sport into an already busy schedule, the workload can be taxing. Men’s baseball players practice six out of seven days a week, along with lifting weights for a required three times a week. On top of this, they usually play at least one double-header during the week, and as many as three double-headers over the weekend. “It’s tough sometimes,” said first-baseman Mark Henry, a junior.
“Usually, when I don’t have classes or practice, I try to get a nap in, because I’m usually exhausted. I also have a hard time keeping up with all my homework. There just isn’t enough time for everything.” Like many of the other sports here at SHU, men’s baseball is a year-round commitment. Although the team has their championship season in the spring semester, they play baseball during the fall semester as well.
Junior Jenna Petrini feels the strain of playing not one, but two high-demand collegiate sports: women’s basketball and women’s golf. During the fall semester, Petrini balanced her schoolwork along with mandatory practices and games/matches for both sports. During the spring semester, she was exempt from golf practice, because women’s basketball was in their championship segment. However, as soon as women’s basketball finished, Petrini was expected to devote more time to women’s golf in order to catch up for the two weeks of practice she missed. “It’s very difficult.
You have to prioritize, because your time is limited throughout the day. But in the end, it teaches me how to handle many obstacles, and with that the results are more rewarding,” Petrini said.
The important thing to remember, when you enroll in at least 12 credits per semester and play a demanding sport is that you must learn to balance your time evenly. Sophomore Juliana Cox, a member of the women’s golf team said, “It’s all about staying organized. I have a planner that basically accounts for every minute of my day in order to finish my school work and go to all my practices and matches.” Aside from playing golf and doing her schoolwork, Cox also works at the preschool here on campus as part of her work-study, and still finds time to tutor elementary students on the side. Nevertheless, part of the responsibility of a student athlete is to let their work-study supervisors know ahead of time when they will be missing work due to games or matches.
Being a student athlete requires additional responsibilities. Students must find time for practices as well as class work and homework. Finals week is another story. Although students are not permitted to participate in athletics during finals week, many seasons continue right up to the day before finals begin. For example, the baseball team traveled to Pitt-Johnstown on the Thursday and Friday before finals began. This gave them less time to prepare for finals, finish projects, or write papers. The week before that, the team traveled North Carolina to play double headers on Saturday and Sunday. The following Monday morning, junior Andrew DiNardo said, “I had a really rough night. I found out on Friday that one of my presentations for a class was moved up to Monday morning. I obviously didn’t have time to do my project over the weekend, so after we got home from the games at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning, I had to stay up to finish my project. It was a rough night.”
Regardless of their other responsibilities, being a student comes first; athletics and recreational activities are never as important as grades. Student athletes must maintain a GPA average in order to keep their position on their selected sports teams. However, despite the constant stress, most of SHU’s athletes manage to balance all of their responsibilities, and still leave school smiling at the end of the spring semester.