Athletes have to be students, too
As popular as sports are on university campuses, most students and fans never see the other, less-glamorous side of college athletics – the side that requires serious dedication from the athletes to be successful academically.
The time commitment required of student-athletes is the biggest obstacle to their academic success, particularly for road games when more time is spent traveling.
Varsity sports are not the only teams asked to make the sacrifice. Although some club teams are less competitive, some club sports like the Aggie hockey team practice every day and have a schedule of approximately 40 games, consisting of road games as well as home games, and the team members are asked to make the sacrifice without the opportunity to have their schooling paid for.
“Some guys can do it all. They can do awesome in school and hold a job and play hockey. But personally, hockey and school is all I can handle,” USU hockey player Roberto Leo said.
Leo said he thinks the time commitment is a lot to expect without a scholarship and the hockey players would benefit academically with fewer practices.
“The NCAA teams get money for what they’re doing, so I can understand why they practice every day,” Leo said. “But we’re a club team, so I think we could cut down on practicing a little.”
In addition to the time commitment, the physical nature of sports affects the athlete’s ability to perform in the classroom.
“When you come home from practice and you’re tired and you just want to go to sleep and you’re sore, the last thing on you mind is to do homework,” former USU basketball player John Neil said.
Neil, who was an Academic All-Big West selection while playing basketball for Utah State, said coach Stew Morrill is one of the best coaches for acknowledging the athletes’ commitment to academics.
“Coach Morrill is pretty good about not letting us get burned out. Like at Utah when Rick Majerus was there – I’m not going to say anything, but ask Chris Huber about it sometime. He’ll tell you about honestly spending 7-8 hours a day just with basketball stuff,” Neil said.
A lot of the challenge of studying on road trips for athletes is the same non-athletes face on a road trip.
Who wants to study on vacation?
“We try [to study], but most people don’t. You could do it on the plane or you could do it in your hotel room, but most of us just go out and have fun and don’t really worry about it. And then when we come back, we have a lot of work to do,” freshman cross-country runner Todd Griffith said. “You worry more about your sport than school right then.”
But for the athletes, it requires more dedication, because with the exception of spring, Thanksgiving and Christmas break, the opportunities for students to go on a road trip are very minimal. But, for athletes, it is a regular facet of their monthly schedule.
“If you think about that, a basketball team will be on the road for 30 days out of the semester. That’s going to make a difference as far as their academic success goes,” Neil said.
Recognizing the challenge road trips pose to the athletes academically, the Utah State volleyball team has instituted a mandatory study hall for road trips.
“Usually we have 9 a.m. breakfast, then at 10, we have study hall and coach actually goes to your room to see if you’re studying or not,” Zuzana Cernianska, a senior on the volleyball team, said.
But athletes do get help from the university. It does a lot to help the athletes succeed in the classroom with priority registration, free tutoring and all of the athletes have said teachers have been very understanding and willing to work with them when they have road trips.
-cmoffitt@cc.usu.edu