Last week, the NCAA put a video on Twitter that took the internet by storm. The video showed a “student-athlete” going through his daily routine. The video received a lot of criticism from former athletes.
My Thoughts
As a student-athlete myself, I thought I’d take the time to weigh in on this topic. Keep in mind, I’m playing golf at close to the lowest level I can. I’m not even NCAA sanctioned, we play in the NAIA. My life is probably the closest of any to the guy in the video and I’m still busier than that dude.
I’m going to base this off of my fall semester, freshman year. I’d wake up at 7:30 every morning to go to our golf room and get in a little practice before class at 9:30. I’d go to 2-3 classes depending on the day and then go straight to practice. After practice, I’d eat and go workout. At some point throughout the week, I needed to get six study table hours, so I’d have to go sit in a room in the “learning commons” and make sure I got my hours in. Then, whatever time I had left was mine to use as I pleased. Then go to bed, wake up, and do it again the next day. I certainly didn’t have time to do whatever that dude is doing at the 11 second mark.
I can’t really complain about my student-athlete schedule because I’ve got it pretty good. But, guys who are playing D1 football or basketball have almost no time and are twice as busy as I’ll ever be. They’re literally working a full time job between classes. Or having “mac sessions” between classes if you’re Eric Ebron. The amount of time and effort that goes into being a student-athlete at the highest levels is incredible, and the NCAA missed the mark entirely with their video. Maybe try acknowledging the work they put in instead of making their routines looks like a joy ride.