Most college athletes say they spend as much time or more on, sports during off & on season, leaving them little time for common college student activities like studying, internships, & part-time jobs. Therefore, college athletes should have more time off the court. There are many things that could or do impact a college athlete’s life, but the main issues are academics, social life and personal health; both mentally and physically. These all play a huge role to an athlete’s “playing time”. One of the main reasons why college athletes don’t get playing time is because of their academics.
Only so much time is set aside to academics and, often, it isn’t enough for college athletes. Academics to college athletes is basically a gateway to allowing them to play; on some occasions. Per Jasmine Harris, Ursinus College stated that “athletes spend three times as many hours per week on athletics as they do on academics”. On average, players spend more than 25 hours on sport-related activities other than games; such as practice, workouts, general team meetings, film sessions and travels. This leaves them less hours outside of class to work on academics, such as writing papers, studying, getting tutored or working on group projects. Which is why some athlete’s academics are tending to slip or fall dramatically; which then could lead to less playing time and possibly benched. Some may argue that college athletes should be satisfied with the fact that they have scholarships which enable them to reap the benefits of a college education. The only problem with that argument is that college athletes aren’t able to fully actualize their identities as students to the same degree as their classmates. College sports are just too demanding, and universities do not make any special discounts for athletes’ additional time conditions. Not only do academics play a huge role in college athletes struggling; so, does their social life.
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An average weekday for a college athlete consists of morning workouts, followed by class, then a quick lunch break with teammates, practice for 3 or more hours and then dinner (which tends to be around 5pm-8pm). On weekends, athletes are either busy with competitions, or are travelling away to another school in the conference, with such a packed schedule this forces athletes to be picky with how they choose to spend their time, but also limits their time to interact with other people around the campus. Because so much of their time is spent with their team, which doesn’t leave many opportunities for athletes able to branch out and participate in more college activities and interact with other students. Nussbaum quoted “There’s the obvious things that I can’t do during a season sue to the time commitments” and Schreiber added “Yes, I think the social scene (for college athletes) is different from other people on campus”. Unfortunately, the time athletes put into their sports places them into a social subculture on campus where they find themselves interacting within either their own small group of teammates or other sporting teams. Meaning that college athletes have a small social circle. Another factor that also plays a huge part is a college athletes’ health.
College athletics in general have never been bigger business, and with that comes a resulting pressure on college athletes to perform at a high level can take its toll. A College athlete’s health is important for both mentally and physically. There are many factors that can affect a college athletes’ mental health these could include when a college athlete gets injured; there are many emotional reactions for example: Isolation, Lack of Motivation, Frustration etc. Although injuries aren’t the only factor that effect a college athlete’s mental health; if a player had a bad game or the pressure coming upon the athlete from school work, practices etc. “Mental health is an important aspect for anyone’s life, but should be taken seriously for a college athlete” Dimmerling Quoted. Mellissa Casey also surveyed a group of college athletes; 30% of female college athletes showed signs of depression, 18% of male college athletes showed signs of depression as well. With the mental health of college athletes taking a toll on one’s performance that could most likely lead to physical harm upon the person. A college athletes’ mental health can be severely affected by injury. As it states in the NCCA handbook “an athletes’ self-esteem ad identity may be negatively affected by their inability to do the thing that they enjoy and do best”. College athletes can also become depressed because of “overtraining syndrome”. This could come about after heavy training, with symptoms including a decrease in performance, anxiety, muscle soreness, decreased concentration, fatigue and depression, etc. With over training, it can place a college athlete at significant risk of serious injury and then could possible effecting them mentally.
Taking every piece of information mentioned throughout the essay it’s clear that with the overload of training, games, travelling etc. It’s clear that college athletes struggle with upholding their academics (completing assignments on time, getting tutored), social life (college activities and expanding their social circle) and mental and physical health (overwhelmed with pressure, muscle soreness, depression). The life a college athletes can become overly packed and therefore college athletes should have more time off the courts.
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