Each and every student athlete has certain expectations to live up to in college.
Why do college athletes take those expectations so seriously?
If a student athlete does not keep their GPA at least above the minimum requirement, they are putting their playing time at risk. Therefore, the academic expectations are an important factor that student athletes take seriously in college or else they cannot play.
“In college you have full responsibility for your own success,” Carter Treuchet, senior midfielder on the lacrosse team, said.
Treuchet is a senior marketing major this year and has been playing lacrosse since he was 4 years old. He is a perfect example of an athlete who has put a lot of dedication into the sport he loves and knows what he needs to do in order to continue to do that.
After college though, the chances seem to be one and a million to make it on into the professional world of any sport.
According to the NCAA, More than 460,000 compete as NCAA athletes, and just a select few within each sport move on to compete at the professional or Olympic level.
Those odds might seem frightening to some people, but no statistic could put a damper on the passion that some players have for the game.
“I love playing lacrosse so I don’t want it to be taken away from me and it easily can be,” Treuchet said.
There are many ways to get involved with a sport that an athlete has learned to master all throughout their life besides actually playing on a team.
No one should let the thought of not being able to play in the professional world put them down because there are many more opportunities for these athletes to utilize in their future beyond the years of playing in college.
Treuchet knows that lacrosse will continue to be a part of his life after he graduates.
“I play in men’s leagues over the summer to get back on the field with friends from home, as well as annual tournaments,” Treuchet said. “I’ll play as much as I can after I leave Cabrini and give back to the program here. I could also see coaching somewhere in my future eventually.”
How do student athletes have a hard time adjusting after graduating?
“The team aspect is probably the hardest to give up. Having your friends with you all working towards one goal is hard to achieve all the time,” Treuchet said. “As a team, everyone has that goal. It’s hard to end those relationships. Athletically, some will drop off and fitness levels may drop but having a job takes over the time that was put into being a college athlete. Most won’t have time to incorporate lacrosse or any sport into their lives as much as they would like.”
Whether it be a physical or mental issue that an athlete struggles with after graduation, resolving those issues are important to one’s overall well being in general.
Playing the sport that they love in college will only be a stepping-stone in their life where they got to express it. Throughout the rest of any student athlete’s life, finding a way to incorporate the sport that they care about so much may seem hard sometimes when they miss it so much but they will eventually find some way to do it.
Athletes do not give up on their team during college and they will not give up on continuing involvement with the sport they have a passion for at another time in their life if they wish to do so.
