<p>Having just seen my daughter's last athletic event of the year, I'd just like to reiterate my plug for the athletic program at Smith and to urge anyone who has enjoyed doing sports in high school to continue doing them at Smith. </p>
<p>I have been really impressed all year with how supportive the women on her teams have been to each other, and how incredible the coaches have been in striking the perfect balance between pushing the athletes towards greater achievement and keeping them healthy and injury-free. It seems my daughter has found almost a surrogate family in her team -- a place where everybody knows her name, a place where she is held with genuine affection and esteem (expressed to us in person by many of her team-mates who made the effort to come over to us at the events we have attended over the course of the year).</p>
<p>If you are worried about balancing your academic work with a rigorous training schedule, don't be. I heard yesterday that my daughter's team has an average GPA of 3.85 or something like that. First of all, the Smith coaches are very sensitive to the academic requirements of their students, appreciate that those have priority, and adjust the training accordingly. Second, having the kind of regular schedule that being on a team entails actually makes you more focussed than you tend to be if you have large quantities of unscheduled time. Third, the intense physical activity is a tremendous stress-reliever, actually giving you MORE energy in the long run. Fourth, you benefit from having a group of like-minded peers to hang out with and to give you all kinds of support.</p>
<p>If you're not sure you're good enough to compete at the college level, don't worry about it. Give it a shot anyway. My impression about Smith is that they care more about fostering life-long habits and enthusiasms than they do about placing first in NEWMAC (although they're certainly happy when Smith does happen to place first!). My daughter probably could not have competed at many other colleges -- even Division 3 schools -- but she has found a place at Smith and has been able to improve her performance dramatically, thanks to the nurturing attitude of her coaches.</p>
<p>If you have any interest at all in joining a team at Smith, you should contact the coach over the summer to get the summer training schedule and to find out if you need to be on campus before Orientation in the fall. Good luck to everyone out there! I hope you have as terrific a year as my daughter has had.</p>