This book and the secrets within it are written for student-athletes who will not go pro. Several of the authors of the book were athletes in this situation. The gender of student-athletes is a factor to consider because—although male and female athletes alike rarely manage to become professional athletes—there are statistically more opportunities (though still very few) for male student-athletes, so female student-athletes often have a better understanding than their male counterparts of the reality of being a typical student-athlete.
There are many contexts comparable to this reality. Think about music, where very few who dream of performing professionally ever establish a career as a professional musician. And, of those who do, few achieve the success they dreamed of. The same can be said for fashion designers, authors, journalists, and artists. Although some do “make it,” most need to find another path to a sustainable career and a life outside of their passion.
As a full-time student in college in the United States,2 you are one of sixteen million. However, as an NCAA student-athlete, you are one of fewer than five hundred thousand. Yes, only 1 in 32 students in the USA has the status you do. You are special. You have earned privileges.
However, with great power comes great responsibility.
So, “special” and “privileged” are coupled with “pressure” and “risk.” Let us explain.
The path for most student-athletes in most sports is similar (and we’re quite certain you can relate). As a high school student, you were likely the big fish. Academically you did very well (or well enough), and athletically you were a star. You won championships, you captained your team, other teams in your district feared facing you, the media attention in school and local publications piled up, and you’ve got boxes of awards, medals, and honors that most of your friends covet.
Yes, you were a big deal. And, because you were that big deal, fortune shone on you and you got the chance to become an NCAA student-athlete. Perhaps you’re a Division I, Division II, or Division III recruit. You might be on a “full-ride” scholarship or you might have “walked on” and barely made the team. Whatever the path, you delivered the academic and athletic credentials to become a 1-in-32 student-athlete.
Very cool. You have the “power.” But, the pond just got bigger. You’re still a big fish but with a lot more swimming to do! And let’s be clear, there are fish bigger than you. There always are.
So, what exactly is the great responsibility you face? Well, it manifests itself as pressure, and it has multiple sources:
1. Your parents (grandparents, guardians): You are the apple of their eyes, they brag about you at their local curling club, golf club, favorite pub, and with their friends. They have likely invested in you over the years (athletically, academically, and even financially) to help with your training and your studies. They may also be the type of parents who exerted pressure on you to perform. And, even if they don’t directly exert any pressure, the perception of such is likely there. If you need clarification on this point, just imagine what would happen if you failed two classes one semester, lost your scholarship, and got kicked off your team. How would you tell your parents (or grandparents or guardians)? How hard would that be? How disappointed would they be?
2. Your friends (who are not teammates): Your core social group, your high school group of friends, will love you no matter what, but you’ve likely built your image and your “self” around being a star athlete, and now a student-athlete, so that expectation is there. You’ll feel the pressure here if anything starts to slip . . .
3. Your college coach: You were likely comfortable with your high school or club coach as you developed, but now you’re in college. Your coach likely recruited you, selected you over others, and helped you get that amazing scholarship. But now put yourself in your coach’s shoes. College coaches are fired often; turnover is frequent and the pressure on them to win is extremely high. This pressure is transferred to the athletes (you), who often feel a need and a pressure to perform “for their coach.”
4. Your college teammates: Again, back home, in high school or club, you were likely with your buddies or boy/girlfriends. Now, you’re with a bunch of teammates, some older than you, some competing with you, some who may rely on you for their success or who may hope you fail so they can play more. Some teammates will probably become lifelong friends and may even have the same academic major as you. Other teammates may not; they may be rivals or live a completely different life (in a different academic program). Whether friend (counting on you) or foe (wanting your playing time), teammates will be a source of pressure as well.
5. Your partner (if you have one): This is a relationship that we will delve into in much detail in a later “secret” in this book, but it is one to be cautious about. Either a relationship from home or a new one at college is a source of major pressure and can compromise any student-athlete who must already live two lives. Only a very supportive partner can work, even if that partner is also a student-athlete, and even then, this is a source of stress.
6. Your hometown media: If you are from a city of more than a million people, you can skip this one. But if you represent a small hometown, this is a big commitment and an important responsibility. You could find, like one of this book’s authors who comes from a town of fifteen thousand people, that you remain a media personality in your town’s local publications many years after your athletic career. This manifests itself in pressure to represent your town, pressure to continue to perform for and contribute to family and friends, and time pressure from the requirements of setting up calls, giving interviews, responding to questions, and maintaining a social media presence.
7. Your Athletic Department: Off-the-field commitments will come from many sources in your university’s athletic department. Media interviews. Pep rallies. Athlete councils (like SAAC). Team meetings. Anti-doping seminars. Marketing. And much more. Be wary of these commitments: they are “time-eaters” and bring their own political pressure.
These seven sources of responsibility (aka pressure) are certainly not an exhaustive list, but they are ones we believe will affect almost all student-athletes. Depending on your particular situation, you will have other sources of responsibility (e.g., a part-time job, a sick parent) and pressure (e.g., a need to travel home, sleep deprivation) that you need to deal with.
. . .
MAX DITTMER (former swimming student-athlete at the University of Iowa, Associate Business and Store Planner at Under Armour)
My parents for the most part were hands-off and supportive for whatever/whenever I needed them. I can’t imagine the extra pressure added if they weren’t the way they are, and I am thankful for that.
Academics were never a problem for me personally, so as long as I was maintaining good grades as expected, I had almost no conversations or pressure from my parents about the academic side of things. However, the pressure from them was put on me at a young age to maintain good grades. Therefore, the pressure of getting good grades just became an internal pressure.
The pressure I received from athletics was more just wanting myself to succeed and be happy. I was always very positive, and never negative. I never felt any pressure from anyone else’s end if I didn’t succeed or do as well as I hoped.
My friends didn’t add any academic or athletic pressure, but more social pressure. I always got the “come out with us,” “skip practice,” or “go to practice hung over.” From the coaches’ standpoint, it depends on the coach, but for the most part they were supportive in both areas, but definitely they were more focused on the athletic side.
For academics, the coaches would give me relative accommodations, but practice/competitions for the most part trumped all. Everything else should be scheduled around these. I remember receiving pressure during finals weeks from coaches for missing practices when we were on “break” and “no required practices” to allow for academic focus during finals week. Essentially you would be shamed for missing unless your test was during finals. That was hard to deal with. For swimming, there was lots of pressure to perform, but never negatively stated if you performed bad, just positive reinforcement when you