The moment your last game senior year of high school is over, a new chapter begins and you’re now in preparation mode for college. Scary isn’t? First off, Congrats! You are among the 1% of high school athletes that have the opportunity to go on to play in college. Be proud of all the hard work and sacrifice you have given your high school and welcome college with open arms. With that said, as an ex-collegiate athlete (D3 Soccer at SUNY Plattsburgh), I am going to share advice from my experiences, mistakes and mistakes of others that will help you with this transition.
Academics First
First thing you have to realize is that you are there for academics first. Don’t take your education for granted. College is hard and it’s challenging to handle everything, but with all the support from coaches, tutors, professors, there is no reason to fail a college course and not get the most out of your 4 years. Strive to make personal relationships with professors. My first couple years of college, I only saw my professors during class and this was a mistake. As I matured I began asking my professors for more resources, reading & advice. Your professors are intelligent people with tons of experience, wisdom & connections so get the most out of them. Letters of recommendations are easier to get when you and your professors are close to each other. In addition, you will miss a ton of classes due to traveling, and the closer you are with professors, the more they’ll understand. Last thing, unless you are one of the chosen few to play professionally, your degree is what will make you your living so take it seriously. Make a study schedule, do all your work in the week & stick to it. You’ll thank me later.
Learn to Enjoy Waking Up Early
Chances are if you play a college sport you will have to wake up early to partake in a practice, workout or class. If you go D1 your chances of this happening are much higher. Embrace the grind! Again, it comes down to time management, and getting your work done when its assigned. Go to bed on time, wake up (drink coffee), get to work, get better!
Leave the Hometown Accolades Home
You might have been the best player on your high school team but in college, you’re one of many. Every player on your team was “the best player”. Your stats and what you did don’t mean anything, and returning players aren’t going to just give you respect. Show up to preseason humble, ready to work hard and leave what you did in high school back home.
Keep Your Social Life Private
Despite what parents and coaches want to hear, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I am a recent college graduate and a realist; you are looking forward to going out & having some fun in college. Listen, I think everyone who goes to college, should have a fun & safe experience. With that said, realize you are ONE bad decision or one selfish night away from ruining your teams season and losing your eligibility. One random test is all it takes to ruin a season; so be wise with who you surround yourself with. A few pointers here…Don’t Tweet/Instagram/Facebook/Snapchat every single thing you do. I don’t think this needs deep detail; keep your social media clean. Also realize, it’s not just your social media that needs to be clean but be mindful of people taking pictures as well with you in the background. We all know you want to enjoy college, but those who can make smart decisions and take the high road will become successful on & off the field. This takes a strong minded and disciplined person and even stronger team to do this. In fact, I only know ONE team personally in which every team member took the high road….and they’re looking to win their third straight national title…
Volunteer
Being an athlete in college is a big deal, but there are more important things in life. Volunteer at least once a semester and get active in your community. You’ll feel awesome that you gave back to your community outside of sports.
Respect Your Sport Medicine Staff
I might be bias with this one since I am a strength & conditioning coach, but learn to love and respect your sport medicine staff. You will be spending a lot of time with them, sometimes more than your actual coach. They are there to help you so do not give them attitude, do not make their rooms a mess, pick up your weights, and do as they say. They want to see you play and this only happens if you trust their expertise and do the program outlined for you. Athletic trainers, physical therapist & strength & conditioning coaches work extremely long hours and do not get much recognition. They are up before you are, they work late nights, they manage & build relationships with hundreds of athletes, in addition to balancing their family/personal life & continuing education. Listen to what they have to say, so you can remain injury free and dominate in competition.
You DON’T Know More Than Your Coach
Being 17-18, I know you think you have all the knowledge in the world (please catch my sarcasm), but something tells me your coach is probably more experienced in your given sport. Your college coach’s philosophy and system may be different than what your used to and you must adapt quickly and figure out the best ways to help the team. Chances are you will NOT start your freshman year or even play that much. I didn’t play in the first 7 or 8 games of my freshman year and then played in every game in my career since then. Be patient and prove your worth. You might think you’re fit to start & play over some of the players but respect your coach’s expertise and know your role. Some players are meant to just play 10 minutes a game. Make the most out of those 10 minutes. My freshman year, 9 freshman made the team in my 2014 class, but only myself and one other stayed all 4 years. Some didn’t like sitting the bench & thought they should have played more. It was their decision to leave & you can make the same choice…Or you can just train harder and appreciate what you have. Life isn’t always fair, respect that playing time will vary and buy into the team’s system. Team > me.
Starting is Overrated
Going off the last topic, realize that starting is overrated. Now, I’m not saying that you should get complacent and not fight for a starting position. But if you do not start, don’t get frustrated, just do the best you can to help your team in the role you’re given with the playing time you get. My freshman year, myself and another freshman got a ton of minutes and had a great first year. I led freshman in scoring and we won our conference tournament and advanced to the NCAAs. Going into my sophomore season, I wanted nothing more than to break into the starting line-up. I ended up starting 17 out of 20 games which on paper looks great. Despite this, in my 4 years it was our worst placement going 13-5-2 and losing in the semifinals of our conference tourney. My junior year, I continued to improve and again, had a good year on paper, starting 19 out of 21 games, leading the conference with assists, netting a couple goals and making 2nd team All-Conference. In addition, we won our regular season conference title and had a regular season record of 16-2-1. Unfortunately, we lost in the finals of the conference tournament and somehow did not get an at large bid to the NCAA tournament. Finally, senior year comes around and for us seniors, its personal. The goal is to win a title every year, but survival instincts take over as a senior knowing your career is shortly over. After being a consistent starter for the previous two seasons I ended up starting the first 7 games of senior year and then after playing awful (I’ll admit), I then became the first substitute off the bench. At first, I was frustrated, but I soon realized the person that took my position was a much better starter & deserved to start. Looking back, I excelled coming in off the bench and actually preferred it. I didn’t play the whole game but I averaged about 60 solid minutes a game my senior season. In the conference tournament final, I came in off the bench to set up a play and secure a game wining assist that gave us the title and a birth to the NCAA tournament once again. The point of this long story is that playing time and starting are not important; buying into the system, knowing your role & leaving a legacy is.
Make Friends Outside Your Sport
When you spend 4 years with your teammates, you will most likely live with them and know every little detail about them, their family, and everything else about them. These friendships will last a lifetime and nothing will come close to the bond between teammates. Despite this, make friends outside your sport. Some of the most amazing people and my best friends that I lived with were those who didn’t play college sports. I truly think if you only hang out with your teammates, you start to get an ego and judge those who don’t play sports. It’s just sports, you’re not that special. Making friends outside my team has led me to some amazing experiences that I’m forever grateful for them. Also, they are the best fans in the world and nothing is better than that.
Don’t Come into Preseason Out of Shape
This is a big one. Your freshman year preseason will be the most nerve wracking experience to date in your athletic career. Nothing can prepare you for this, with all the new changes going on, & coming into preseason out of shape is something that must be avoided. I’m not trying to scare you, I’m giving you solid advice and an opportunity to get ahead; train hard, and train often. NOTHING puts you on the coaches “bad list” than looking like a slob and dogging it through drills, but what’s worse is that you will lose respect from returners. On the other side, nothing makes you look better than coming into preseason a step ahead of kids in your class or even returners. Your teammates want to win and they expect everyone to be at their very best. Luckily for me, I was always one of the fastest on the team and my conditioning level was above average. However, I have witness some train wrecks during our beep test and 300-yard shuttle drills. In fact, I have witness some freshman failing so bad that as returners we asked “that’s a joke right?”. Your coaches aren’t looking for you to be the fastest, strongest or most in shape, but you need to have a solid foundation for them to mold over the 4 years. Stick to your off season program and talk to your strength coach. Don’t have one? I think you might know of someone to ask for help….
Leave the Jersey in a better Place
Don’t come into college just to play your sport, go to class, graduate and then leave. Don’t just be another athlete filling in a jersey, soon to be forgotten. Build your legacy. Make an impact on your team, your community and those around you. At the end of your four years, be confident that you left your jersey/school in a better place than which you found it. “Plant tree’s you’ll never see”.
Don’t Rush
In my four years, we had a combined record of 58-19-8, winning one regular season title, advancing to three conference tournament finals, winning two conference tournaments and advancing to the NCAA tournament twice while being ranked as low as #11 in the country and top 25 at various points. Personally I started 43-77 games, only not playing in 8 games my career (freshman year), NEVER missed a game due to injury, led the team in assist multiple times, led the conference in assists my junior season, received SUNYAC ALL-Conference awards once, named SUNAC ALL-Academic three times & was a part of a play in which I assisted a teammate on a game winning overtime bicycle kick that got us to #3 on “Sport Centers Top Ten Plays”.
You could say I had a great career.
I will never play competitive soccer again but despite all the physical parts of the game I miss, the thing I miss the most is just being with my teammates. Countless hours are spent in classes together, the locker room, field, bus rides, social events and much, more. Don’t take this for granted. After every game we won we would play “This is How We Do It” and “All We Do Is Win”, and honestly sometimes I miss that more than playing. The endless chirps and rap battles on the bus, although embarrassing and just sad, are things I miss. Spending time with coaches and getting chirped by them in front of teammates are things I miss. looking up to seniors, and having underclassmen look up to us are things I miss. The hard work, blood, sweat & tears will be things I miss. Losing and wanting to avenge ourselves is something I miss. Beating Oneonta at their place is something I miss. Tiki Taka (pre-game chant) is something I miss. Playing soccer in the off season with no pressure is something I miss.
All these things I miss; will soon be similar things you will miss. Don’t rush through the locker room getting changed, don’t sleep the whole bus ride, don’t view practice as a burden, have fun, work hard and make the most of it. Years down the road, all the games won and lost will not matter, trophies will collect dust, personal records are forgotten, but the bond between teammates, coaches, fans and the community will be eternal.