<p>I am a senior in high school. I am planning to attend UCR in the fall of 2009. I have been playing tennis for 3 years. I want to play in college too but I don't think I have enough time. On the other hand, I don't want to not play tennis anymore because I love tennis so much. I just want to have fun and study hard in college. Not just studying studying all day. I want to go out and have some free time. I'm always going to do work study as well. For those of you that are playing sports in college, how do you manage to fit time for practice and competitions in your schedule?! Do you compete during classes or is it after school? Do you compete with other teams that are really far? Also, do the sports team recruit players or do you just tryout?</p>
<p>bump! anyone?</p>
<p>You might get more and better quality responses if you posted in your college’s forum section.</p>
<p>Um is UCR recruiting you?</p>
<p>No, but I was just curious.</p>
<p>To tell u the truth, with workouts, practice, games, off season workouts, and off season practice, its a complete Bi&c#h to do, only if you take a real major, not the easy crap they encourage you to take. I play D1 football, and i actually took a difficult major @ my school. The best thing to do is not procrastinate and go make use of the study hall hours. I take less hours in the fall, but in the spring and summer I have to 17-18 credit hours. Since I actually care about grades (inside I’m a complete nerd) and not just playing ball, I usually stay in during weekends instead of going out. </p>
<p>But as an athlete you will get priority class sign-up…which means you can find the easy professors; and you have access to study hall which can be as helpful as you make it out to be. Remember likely the school invested a **** ton of money one you so they want to make sure that you stay eligible; but beyond a C, your going to have to work your butt of. Oh and another word of advice, try to take the easy prerequisites during the season and the harder classes during the off-seasons.</p>
<p>As far as games, at all school if you miss a test for a game or something they will give you a time to make up for it. And if your not recruited by your school you should go email the ASSISTANT COACH and tell them your interested…and they should give you info from there.
And if you do play then forget the work study…it will never work out. LOL</p>
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<p>I dont think you have anything to worry about then, because you’re not going to walk on a D-I tennis team after playing for three years…</p>
<p>OP, I’m in the EXACT SAME POSITION AS YOU. Looking to play college tennis (DIII) but also worried about work study and having fun. Could you ask your prospective coach for their practice times? That’s what I did and it helped quite a bit.</p>
<p>i’ve got a friend who plays lacrosse down here and she seems to do pretty well. i think it’s all a matter of knowing how to organize your time and taking advantage of all the things that are there to help you, you know?</p>
<p>Two golden rules - time management (calculate all of the hours you have free in the day outside of class and practice=many hours; instead of sleeping, goofing around or partying ALL of those hours…Use Self-Discipline - read, write and complete your school work). Try hanging out in the library to complete work, or in the learning center…everyone else will be doing the same thing. Befriend other people who have the similar priorites as a student-athlete…there will still be plenty of time to socialize while giving your personal best to your school work as well as your sport of choice.</p>
<p>I walked on to my Division I Cross Country team and am a Biology major.</p>
<p>First of all, contact the coach immediately by e-mail and introduce yourself explaining your interest in playing tennis and some statistics or background information as well as your academic interests. He/she will probably tell you if you can walk on to the team or not. </p>
<p>For me, I have found it difficult but not impossible to balance my academics, running, and other extra curricular activities. I try to stack my classes in a row (for example, my first two semesters, I have had three classes in a row Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) in order to maximize my time. After walking to my dorm or the library and settling in, I can’t really get much done in an hour between classes, so this really works for me. </p>
<p>I am very strict about my studying schedule. Before I go to bed every night, I literally map out what time I will wake up, go to sleep, eat, study, run errands, hang out with friends, attend campus events, etc. for the next day. It helps me manage my time and organize all of my activities. </p>
<p>A lot of my teammates are not as focused academically and that can be frustrating because they don’t understand why I feel like I need to study so much. Just remember why you’re at college and do what you need to do!</p>
<p>We practice in the middle of the day which is kind of a pain, but I just work my classes around it. Our meets are almost always on Saturdays and typically not over three hours away, although there is the occasional meet that requires staying at a hotel overnight. With meets on Saturday, I lose a day of studying, so usually I’ll have to stay in that night doing work. </p>
<p>If you miss class, it is really your responsibility to make up the work. If you miss a test, you should be able to make it up. Make sure you make your schedule so that you miss the least number of classes and tests if your competitions conflict with your classes. Your academic advisor should help you figure out which professors are more lenient, and you get to register early which is awesome. </p>
<p>Another option for you might be a club tennis team which may require less of a time commitment and will be easier to participate in. </p>
<p>I’m a lot busier than a lot of my friends, but I like everything that I do, so I’m okay with it. :)</p>
<p>I don’t play a sport, but I work for a Div 1 Big 12 football team. I have to attend all practices, games, and spring workouts/practices. During fall semesters, including time setting up/taking down the practice field, 12-15 hour gamedays, travel time, and staying after practice on my laundry nights, I put in around 50 hours per week for 20 weeks, including fall training camp. In the spring it’s about 25 hours per week for 8 to 10 weeks.</p>
<p>I carry a full courseload (usually 12-15 credits in fall, 18 in the spring) and keep a 3.5 gpa. It’s all about time management…I go to class, go to practices, study. I study between classes. I try to study on the plane or bus, and I try to stay ahead of schedule but that doesn’t always work out. You may have to give up some free time of hanging out with your buddies but your grades will pay off. I don’t feel like I’m missing any part of the college experience by working so much…and I love it.</p>
<p>MadrasAndPlaid I totally understand where your coming from. I am an engineering major and so I my classes and homework take a lot of my time…but it all about time management. For football we have very early morning workouts and late afternoon practice, so I stack all my classes back to back during mid to late morning times. But I found that starting assignments as early as possible and forcing myself to go to the library has done wonders.</p>
<p>Yeah making myself go to the library helps a ton! When I stay in my dorm, I never get anything done.</p>
<p>Cards4Life even though you have to do all that with the football team, the one thing you don’t have to deal with is being exhausted and banged up…and trust me that definitely affects my ability to study.</p>
<p>MadrasAndPlaid do they make you go to study hall and learning centers…cause if we were not required to go…im sure half the team would in ineligible.</p>
<p>I was required to go to Study Hall first semester for three hours a week because I’m on an academic scholarship, but I don’t have to go anymore because I made a certain GPA requirement at mid-terms. Most other athletes have to go for six hours a week until they reach a GPA requirement, and all freshman are required to go starting their first semester. </p>
<p>What are learning centers? I don’t think we have those. </p>
<p>Also, I completely get what you’re saying about being exhausted from practice. Sometimes I’m so tired I can’t focus, but a half hour nap usually does the trick. :)</p>