College freshman athletes face the daunting task of preparing for the leap from high school to the next level. \u00a0It is neither a simple nor easy jump.<\/p>\n
Unquestionably there are high school prospects that have been pushed hard by their prep and club coaches. \u00a0But in truth the rigors they survived then cannot measure up to the challenges<\/a> of becoming a college freshman student-athlete. There are unexpected differences which frequently take the newcomers by complete surprise. \u00a0Here we offer a list of four hurdles to expect.<\/p>\n Gone are parents who have your back 24\/7. \u00a0Sure, they are still there for you, but they are not in the next room, for sure. \u00a0That means it is up to you to get yourself up every day, show up for early morning pre-season practice, grab a bite for breakfast, go to class, eat lunch, practice again, have dinner, study hall, then get enough sleep to get up the next morning and do it all over again. \u00a0To say the least, it is a grind. \u00a0And it’s one most other freshmen\u00a0couldn’t handle.<\/p>\n All this takes organization and discipline. \u00a0There is no learning curve. \u00a0You have to do it, day in and day out. \u00a0Those free athletic dollars the school has put up to have you on the team? \u00a0Well, as it turns out, they aren’t so free after all. \u00a0You pay back the school every day. \u00a0It’s your sole obligation and responsibility.<\/p>\n Pre-season workouts in the wee hours of the day are hard on the body and the mind. \u00a0You have never experienced this kind of stress. \u00a0Coaches love it<\/a>. \u00a0Athletes hate it. \u00a0But it’s a time-honored tradition which signals to coaches which athletes are all in, which ones are willing to dig deep. \u00a0Making a positive impression is extremely important. \u00a0Arriving out of shape can pigeon-hole you as lazy, and that the last thing you want your coaches to think.<\/p>\n The NCAA allows only a certain number of out-of-season hours of practice each week. \u00a0College coaches take advantage of each minute permitted. \u00a0Days off are rare. \u00a0It is an aspect of becoming a\u00a0college student-athlete that is a right of passage you must overcome.<\/p>\n Because the NCAA<\/a> requires you\u00a0to make steady progress toward earning a degree, there are few classes you can slide through. \u00a0Needless to say, most classes are considerably harder than high school. \u00a0Your coaches not only expect you to attend and be on time but to do well. Any absences or poor reports can bring uncomfortable\u00a0punishments like extra study hall or bed checks.<\/p>\n Class sizes are usually larger than those in high school, so interacting with professors is more difficult. \u00a0With your busy schedule, squeezing in an appointment to speak with a professor can be tough. \u00a0However, do it right from the start, that is, don’t\u00a0miss classes and do the work expected of you and those annoying meetings never happen. \u00a0That said, most coaches have tutors at the ready for you to access. \u00a0Don’t hesitate to tap into those available resources whenever you feel your grades might be in jeopardy of slipping. \u00a0At one time or another, nearly all college freshman athletes do this.<\/p>\n You are coming out of a situation where you were highly regarded. \u00a0Honors may have come your way for several years, placing you in the position to build an impressive resume. \u00a0None of that matters when you land on campus. \u00a0It is back to square one. \u00a0Remember what it felt like when you were promoted to the varsity in high school? \u00a0Well, welcome back.<\/p>\n That is really hard for a lot of college\u00a0freshman athletes. \u00a0Being treated like a rookie again is not appealing. \u00a0Many struggle mightily with it. \u00a0But if you want to get where you want to go, know this – you have to earn it all over again, so grit your teeth and get to work.<\/p>\n There are no alternatives but to quit. \u00a0To avoid that terrible outcome, put your head down, work hard, be on time, get along with your teammates, follow the leaders advice, and wait for your turn. \u00a0It will come and you will be glad you did what you had to do.<\/p>\n Note: \u00a0Author Alan Parham is a 14-year veteran high school scout for National Scouting Report<\/a>. \u00a0He currently serves as the company\u2019s NCAA Compliance Officer.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" College freshman athletes face the daunting task of preparing for the leap from high school to the next level. \u00a0It is neither a simple nor easy jump. Unquestionably there are high school prospects that have been pushed hard by their prep and club coaches. \u00a0But in truth the rigors they survived then cannot measure up … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1299],"tags":[301,10,11,29,1219,31,54,56,57,222,79,1220,1221,94],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14628"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14631,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14628\/revisions\/14631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Organization and Discipline<\/h2>\n
Early Morning Workouts<\/h2>\n
Academic Demands<\/h2>\n
Back to Square One<\/h2>\n