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Gritty, resilient, and competitive. When we think of the qualities used to describe a successful student-athlete at the college level, these may be words that come to mind, and all are typically accurate in defining their experience. However, what we do not always consider are the physical and mental demands that a student-athletes faces in pursuit of this excellence on the field, in the classroom, and in their personal, everyday lives. It is a grind. It is pressure-filled. And often, feelings of social isolation, defeat, and imposter syndrome sink in.
In short, navigating the dual identity of both a student and an athlete is hard, and we — coaches, support staff, and campus partners — need to address these unique challenges in an effort to help our student-athletes integrate, thrive, and ultimately, feel a sense of belonging and purpose within the larger campus community.
Time Management: The Cornerstone of Success
It is no secret that the ability to manage your time is key to academic and professional success. We teach it from an early age, we have conversations about procrastination and organization at every turn of our academic careers, and there are countless resources available as a result of a quick Google search. These tactics apply to the student-athlete experience, but they are not all-encompassing. With packed schedules ranging from early morning lifts, classes, film, individual training, practice, travel, games, studying, rest, and the hope of a social life, it can seem impossible to figure it out.
Student-athlete-specific time management and preparation workshops off the bat are imperative to providing a realistic view of what the semester ahead will look like. This workshop recommendation, yet another student-athlete mandatory commitment, can be slid into the first half hour of a practice block and does not need to be a time sinker, but it can, and will, make a big difference to have each student-athlete sit down with a schedule to map out what their weeks will look like realistically. Have students add in time to eat, socialize, call home, shower (it is amazing how much stress stems from not having enough time to hop in the shower between lift and class!), and more importantly, have your upperclassmen lead the way in talking about their own experiences. This can be done every semester and is impactful for first-year to graduate students alike.
Academic Advising: A Team Effort
Once we get through the weeds, we can start looking at the student-athlete experience and partnerships across campus strategically under the lens of academic progression and success. Another necessary piece of a student-athlete’s ability to be successful relies on a proactive and creative course planning and advising process. The relationship between coaches, athletic academic counselors, and campus advisors is undervalued as one of the most important facets of a successful athletic program.
The ability to assess and plan course loads that identify the strengths of a student in conjunction with their graduation progression and competition schedules can be the difference maker in a student-athlete’s success competitively — and in walking across the stage at commencement. It is easy for a student-athlete to unknowingly walk into their first academic advising appointment, curriculum sheet in hand, and choose the five courses dictated as the exact courses one needs to take in their first semester of the freshman year on campus. Sometimes it truly is that simple — majors such as nursing, engineering, or pre-professional programs may rely on a strict sequence. However, this does not always have to be the case. Advisors can aid in this process by asking pointed questions to student-athletes revolving around both their stressors and their past experiences to devise a creative course plan that yields to the many factors of a student-athlete experience. A helpful cheat sheet may include:
- What semester are you in season? Do you know your travel schedule yet?
- Are there specific days of the week that you’ll miss for competition?
- Do you have early morning athletics commitments? Where is your residence hall?
- What subjects do you feel confident in? What are some areas you feel unsure about?
- What is your biggest worry about being a student-athlete? What academic concerns do you have?
Belonging: Why It Matters
In addition to some of the front-end work that staff can do to support student-athletes, the effort needs to be ongoing. A student-athlete who has mastered the concept of time management and created an effective academic success plan is still bound to feel overwhelmed at some point in their career. This is in part due to the significant pressure of their role on campus and in many instances, also attributed to the lack of feeling like they belong.
Belonging can be a tricky concept. Coaches are tasked with creating a culture that fosters a sense of “family,” but it is not their job alone to ensure student-athletes are integrating with the wider campus community. Despite being part of a team, many student-athletes experience isolation due to their demanding schedules and their unique pressures. This isolation can impact a student-athlete’s overall well-being, in addition to their college experience. It is important to encourage student-athlete engagement outside of sport, but again, this must be strategic across campus life.
When we think about the ease factor surrounding this, it is often less effort than a staff member may imagine. Little actions, from encouraging a resident assistant who hosts mainly evening programs during a team’s practice time to incorporating a floor lunch every now and then to the academic resource center holding one evening or early morning hour a week to better coincide with the athletics schedule can be the difference of a student-athlete never leaving the comfort of their own team to branching out into spaces and groups they may not otherwise be able to attend.
It’s All About Collaboration
Student-athletes cannot navigate the dual identities of being both a student and an athlete alone. It is up to us, campus staff, faculty, and administrators, to collaborate and innovate in our spaces to create an environment that supports student-athletes holistically in all aspects of their lives. Our goal, while to win games, is rooted in our ability to empower student-athletes to find a fulfilling college experience both on the court and off.
