<p>If you have a freshman (or other)student athlete others may find it helpful to post how playing a division 1, 11, 111 sport has affected them, such as their classwork, mental health, other aspects of beginning college life. Certainly was a wake up call for us. Now I worry more!</p>
<p>Our child 4 is playing div. 1 tennis. We went to son's first matches this weekend. He played at singles and doubles spot and although not a top spot played a senior from another college.
A freshman is in no way physically as developed as a senior. Even if they are athletic in high school the fulling out and muscular development is not that of a man yet. The benefits and disadvantages of weight training in high school have been discussed before but it can be a rude awakening for a freshman to have opponents with the musculature development of the Incredible Hulk. ( And on S's team 6 of the 9 players are freshman so this is unavoidable.)
College tennis play really hard slugging out every point in long intense rallies. The upperclassmen are all involved in weight lifting, with extensive muscular developlment which does help their game. Then there are also foreign players. The NCAA eliminated the procedure by which these foreign players, who often were national players supported by and representing their country, could move into the U.S.college system after their glorious national career starts to ebb at, age 24. However, if there is a rule a new way to circumvent it develops and so it has. So they are all there, grown men on the court demolishing scraggly freshmen boys who are in no way inferior, just young and not grown to their physical potential yet.</p>
<p>Son is extremely busy with an intense honor's college schedule and sports practices. I can see he is already managing his time very carefully which is essential to not fall behind in difficult coursework.He is not depressed in any way, just coping with his schedule and dorm life and less sleep than he would like and the physical demands of his coach and team.I do worry. I hope one of these goon oponents don't hurt him! Okay not goons, but very well developed guys in their 20's! Somehow he will get through this but it will take time! It is obvious more work is necessary.</p>
<p>Would be interested in hearing your account of you student athlete's freshman trials and tribulations.</p>
<p>backhand - I went to school on a Div. 1 athletic scholarship. Being named an All American in my sport meant you had to be in about the top 60 even though they gave out All American (meaning to American kids) awards to the top 25. There were simply that many foreign athletes (often much older). I was a little bit shocked by it all - but came to the brutal realizations that: 1) Division 1 athletics is professional athletics - and you have to be prepared to play/compete against whomever shows up - including the best in the world - and you can't compete well until you realize you have to work to that standard; 2) there was very little time - in most cases time for world class dedication to your sport - middling dedication to academics and only scant and inconsistent dedication to developing a meaningful social life - those are the realities of being a paid athlete - if getting into a top graduate school is a priority - be prepared to deal with the ego damage of suffering at the sport - because his competition will be spending thirty to forty tough hours a week training while he is studying; 3) even though the schools mostly pay some attention to the importance of academics, this is not an era by and large where coaches have patience or the right kind of focus - where money is king, they have to produce or their budgets get cut - once on scholarship, expect the pressure to perform athletically to govern and control over all else; and 4) Div 1 scholarship athletics, even for the most mature and determined kid, generally delays adolescence - this is not necessarily a bad thing - but one sure as heck better have a plan to catch up and focus on what do when the playing days are over - teaching and coaching are all too often fall back options for athletes when they have skills that could bring them into other arenas. Sorry to dampen your spirits. But I have been through this personally - and while I have only a few regrets - wish I was better counseled.</p>
<p>Our experiences are very similar to mam1959. While there is great joy for a D1 "ride" there should also be a realization that your life is not your own for that time. Mam1959 pretty much hit it on the mark.</p>
<p>Mam: That is very interesting. What was your sport? Also, comforting to hear you had the shock, too. You must be referring to basketball or football. Not quite the same with tennis. Just have to develop a new style of play.I'm just wondering, were you ever scared of your opponents? Yes, a real shock for a freshman to come in and he doesn't have the muscle development of his opponent. A little funny, tooi. I guess a good coach in a contact sport is careful with the freshman and their amount of playing time. </p>
<p>I'm so sorry if I sounded down about it. Didn't mean to and may have just turned out sounding that way. Actually, the experience seems very much like going from freshman to senior in high school. That is, the seniors are so much more grown and developed physically from the freshman. They come in looking with awe at the seniors. So here son is in college and he now has to learn a whole new style of play, too. That means, no chip shots, just return it and wait for your opponent to screw up. No chance of that! Now he has to develop a weapon, like Andy Roddick's serve, or work up the stamina to slug it out and outlast opponents.</p>
<p>Same here. No time off, double practices, winter vaca and summer "in training" somewhere else in the country. Very, very limited social time. And when you do have it, it is with the team. </p>
<p>The thing is, in tennis SO FEW make it professionally. I have known top players, given athletic scholarships and top in college and then they give it a go and not much happens. They are ranked in the 100's and not many can give it much time after that.Want to go on with their life. Even the best juniors, take their college athletic scholarship and run with it. Never hear from them again and if you do rankings in the 100's.</p>
<p>Is it really their ability, or, how they play the game? I'm starting to think the latter.</p>
<p>my sport was track (and less enthusiastically, cross country - although I did make All American status - as meaningless as it was, once). Ran everything well from 400 meters to 5k. Fortunate enough have some sprint speed. I went to a school well and long esconced in the USNWR top 10 - and most of the great competition when I ran was from Kenya - although Great Britain and Ireland contributed quite a few. They were actually great guys - hungrier than the American kids - in the 80's UK education was not nearly as available to middle class kids and in Kenya any opportunity to come here was welcomed. And I learned how to compete like crazy with these guys. I remember a ridiculously competitive race with two yards separating the five of us - with the winner who beat me by inches a Kenyan later to finish 4th in the 84 Olympics in the 800. And 80 miles or more a week was common - always on the line between sore and injured and tired and sick. Don't take this as a dramatic story - there are people on these boards who have been Div. 1 athletes and their story is the same - in fact - maybe more intense - football players can tell you of spring semesters where they tried to play academic catch-up but were pressed to get in the kind of shape to do 40 or more bench presses at 180-200 pounds - absurd levels of intensity. And gymnasts can tell you of 40 hour weeks with stress fractures - and wrestlers - forget it - their ordeals are too tough to even mention in a paragraph or so. And so on. </p>
<p>The challenge was that deep down I really, really liked doing well in school better than anything else - and while laying the blame on athletics is indeed an excuse, there is no question I would have done better academically had I not been beholden to the athletic department. I was a child of a single mother, who was often unemployed, so I kept deluding myself that I needed the athletic scholarship. But the truth was I had scores and grades in high school well above the median of the school I attended, was a National Merit Semifinalist with lots of AP credits, and if I had some decent advice, I certainly could have obtained a merit scholarship of some magnitude, especially given that I was a national champion in two events in high school, which would have counted for something in the character column. Don't get me wrong - things turned out OK - spent a few years working/track bumming after college - and luckily got accepted to a Tier One (but towards the bottom) law school - where, because I finally did not have to pay continuous homage to a sport, did really well - top of the class and law review - but still - I live with the feeling I backed into law school for the lack of focus in my undergrad days. I still have that feeling. Not a big deal - but a reminder we are only young once. </p>
<p>Don't take this as that your son must have a negative experience while on Div. 1 scholarship - he is by any standard likely one of the top 200 athletes in his sport in college - and probably loves the game of tennis. You mentioned his gist towards time management - probably a good student, too. But he appears to have caring and involved parents (a huge plus), and to the extent you and your son can exert control over the situation (this does not mean he doesn't compete hard, just that you and he keep things in balance), the better the experience will be for the long term.</p>
<p>The top D-3 teams can be more intense than the lower end of the D-1 teams. It really depends on the coach, the importance of the game to the school, the team at the time.</p>
<p>Tennis is a wonderful sport in that it is so useful afterwards. My brother has played the amateur circuits for years and has won national in those divisions. He has gotten jobs and accounts through his tennis, not to mention some great friends, contacts and experiences.</p>
<p>mam59: That is just such a terrific story! How about that. Kenya is just such a fine place for runners. I think they are as happy as the folks from Jamaica. It must be a wonderful country, albeit poor.But I can see how college athetics may overly affect a student. Their priorities become out of wack, athletics more important than the academics.And being young, of course can see they don't have the experience to see the bigger picture. And how coaches may influence a player. Great advice. Thanks.
Captofthehouse: Great story too. Just a matter of keeping ourselves fit and in shape to do that! Have seen older amaturs with ice packs and braces 1/2 hr before and after going on the court. Great sport.</p>
<p>mam1959, what did you really miss by participating in div 1 athletics? You missed out socially, maybe. I can see that. You missed doing some activites because you didn't have the time.</p>
<p>Academically? You can study at age 50 what you missed at age 20. You can't run at 50 like you could at 20.</p>
<p>My kid has decided not to participate in college athletics because he wants to try new things. I understand his decision. I would understand his decision if he chose the opposite.</p>
<p>I think one's experience depends. I remember when we were looking at schools and at one place it was an athlete that showed us around. She said she did better in her classes during her sport's season, because then she had to carefully manage her time. During the offseason, she found she just sort of frittered it away. She said the same was true for the rest of her team (crew, in this case). She also said they had time to recreate.</p>
<p>My daughter has spent one year during Div I fencing. The practices, outside conditioning, and meets didn't seem that burdensome to her, really not appreciably more than what she did prior to college. She complained about being busy all the time during the collegiate season. But when practices were no longer scheduled, she missed them and told me she didn't know what to do with herself! She did fine in her classes and still had time to socialize. But I don't know about the time demands in other sports, so I don't want to generalize.</p>
<p>The problem of bigger athletes isn't as much a concern in fencing. My D already spent years fencing against grown men, and besides, fencers seem to take bruises as badges of honor. But everyone's weapon is the same size, and it isn't a matter of how hard you hit. Bigger isn't necessarily better -- I remember one tournament at her home club that was won by a slight boy in his early teens or younger; he mopped up the competition, all older.</p>
<p>My son opted not to play soccer at CAL after playing 4 yrs of varsity at his high school. He wanted to enjoy the college experience. He has a friend on a baseball scholarship at UCLA and at USC and is good friends with the CAL quarterback. Athletes at D-1 schools do not have the same experiences at "regular" students. We were sorry to see his soccer days end but it was his choice.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman lacrosse player at Cornell. To date, he is absolutely loving the experience. </p>
<p>They are doing a lot of fitness work and some practices preparing for one fall ball tournament. I hear it is intense, I hear it's awesome. The academics seem to be falling into place as well -- what I hear is that the work is demanding but doable. This is why he worked his little bunskis off throughout high school -- and throughout his PG year. He's having an awesome college experience from what I can tell. Spring will be even more intense -- but this is what he wants and so far, it's working out.</p>
<p>I will say that this is the kid that wanted to go to Plebe Summer at the Naval Academy just for the physical training so he could be fit!</p>
<p>My son is a runner and is heartbroken that he is not recovered yet from May IT Band surgery and not yet back running. He is working out and the coach is getting him a trainer to work with. Hopefully, he will soon return to the roads. He is "redshirting" cross country (the Ivys give you a 5th year of eligibility). The other freshman are running fairly easily and not competing all-out yet.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is a freshman, will be rowing for UNC-CH which I believe is Div I (don't know a thing about sports...so correct me if I'm wrong on this one). She's a coxswain, but still has to do the boathouse runs and workout on the erg with the rowers. So far she is enjoying the experience and the nice thing is that they are required to spend 10 hours a week in the athletic academic center. She says the center is incredible; and though she doesn't need tutoring, it is a great little time management tool for keeping on top of her academics. All but a couple of the freshmen (who were recruited) are on the novice team, so the competition schedule is not as intense as that for varsity. She will have to give up Spring Break though since most of the races are in the spring.</p>
<p>From the sounds of things, I don't think she'll be coming home with the freshman fifteen either...lol!</p>
<p>BHG--I know it can be hard to go to these matches! I go on what I call the "baseball diet" during the season--can't eat before, during, or sometimes even after, games because of nerves! (There is also the well-known syndrome of "PMS"--Pitcher's Mom's Syndrome--which involves various and sundry nervous habits and manifestations which may include such things as not being able to talk to anyone during the game, pacing back and forth out of view of the field or in one corner, biting one's fingernails to the quick, etc.) I think that maybe it gets better over time, but it still can be awfully hard! Good luck and have fun if you can!</p>
<p>S is a non-scholarship baseball player at Stanford. He has been fortunate in breaking through the ranks and has done very well on the team. I honestly do not know how these kids do what they do--which usually includes running at 6:30 or something in the morning, then going to classes, practice all afternoon (when not in season, otherwise games and practice), then homework, sometimes an evening class, in the evening. Amazingly S still goes to concerts, lectures, etc. on campus but he probably won't be able to go overseas because the players do pretty much play year round.</p>
<p>I think that the team provides a ton of social/moral support and that the guys truly admire each other and enjoy hanging out together. They also socialize a lot with other athletes. Son has a diverse group of friends which includes academic friends as well, and has not roomed with an athlete. Since he does not have to play to keep a scholarship, I am pretty sure he continues to do it because he loves it with a passion. That doesn't mean there aren't times when he can get really low--but that is just the nature of competitive sports. It is always intense but the kids who choose to do it seem to be able to tolerate the stress or even thrive on it. </p>
<p>All in all, doing D1 sports I think has been a dream come true for my son. But each player's/athlete's experience is going to be slightly different. I agree with the previous poster who mentioned that parental support means a lot to the players. This may be nothing more than letting them know that you admire them no matter what choices they make, and that they should always feel free to make their own choices if they ever falter in their choice to continue with the sport.</p>
<p>my s played varsity tennis in hs but thought it would be to time consuming to play varsity in college. He would qualify for some DIII teams but was not good enough for most D1 programs. He decided to go to a big U with an active tennis club and competitive club team. We thought this was a good compromise...but so far, he's done NOTHING. We're dissapointed since he spent 6 years of his life on this sport (and a lot of our money) but there's really nothing we can do. He loved the sport when he played but I think hanging out with new friends and parties have taken over as his new favorite activities! At least he seems to be keeping up with his studies....</p>