Student Athlete Identity
As I enter my 18th year of college golf coaching, I am recognizing how passionate I am about supporting student athletes beginning in the recruiting process through their college career and beyond. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with student athletes, not only on the golf course, but also in their day to day lives.
When people hear that I am a college golf coach, they often want to go right into talking about golf. And yes, the sport is a very large part of my focus as a coach, however, coaching is so much more than the technical aspects of the game of golf.
Coaching involves guiding these young women through the day to day life situations that come up as they move away from home to get an education and be a part of a competitive team at the same time. It is about supporting them through homesickness, stress from an incredible amount of schoolwork, overwhelm due to a packed schedule, fatigue from lack of sleep and a desire to balance it all. It is teaching them about time management, how to work smart and when to let go of things. It is guiding them as they gain emotional intelligence, create new relationships and struggle to get along with their freshman year roommate. It is supporting them as they see their first C on an exam returned to them, when they struggle to prepare for a speech while traveling to a tournament and get irritated with those that are not pulling their weight for a group project. It is being an ear and a shoulder when they go through a breakup, suffer and are sidelined from an injury or find out a family member passed away while they are in a hotel room at a college tournament. It is encouraging them to perform on a lack of sleep, keep going when they want to quit and to persevere through a very difficult biology lab that they have missed the last two Fridays because of team travel. It is watching them fight, fail, get back up, keep going and remembering to stay in the background to let them experience these things for these challenges help them grow.
Those who compete in collegiate athletics have a great responsibility to themselves, their team, their coaches, their athletic department and their school.
Student athletes lead a life consisting of classes, school work, group projects, team workouts, rehab, chiropractor visits, meetings with the mental performance coach, night classes, practices, competitions, video analysis and chalk talk, interviews with the media, training tables, meetings with the dietician, community outreach projects, study hall, extra work with a tutor and team meetings. Sleep, taking a shower and breathing deeply- those activities fall in their somewhere, as well. Social life? That comes in third, fourth or somewhere else down the line in their long list of priorities and responsibilities and looks much different than non student-athletes.
Yes, college athletes receive A LOT of support, resources and gear. They get uniforms, work out gear, travel gear, equipment needed for their sports, jackets, sweats, shoes, hats, visors and other sports specific items (I am thinking golf balls, tees, tennis balls, swim caps, baseball gloves etc…) They get to travel to places on planes, trains and automobiles and if their coach is aware of it, they get to collect airline miles. They have coaches, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, mental performance coaches, dieticians, sports information directors, athletic directors, a senior women’s administrator, coordinator of facilities, life skills coordinator, student athlete academic coach, teammates, other sport athlete friends, doctors, chiropractors, therapists, counselors and roommates who are all there to support them on their 4 year (and sometimes 5 year) journey. This system of support is built into their experience as a student athlete and in turn, a schedule is readily formed and available to them. They have people who hold them accountable for being on time, doing the work and going the extra mile. They have fans and little kids cheering for them in the crowd- people who bought a ticket to watch them compete. There is a mascot dancing on the sidelines with the cheer team all there to support their athletic pursuits.
All of these experiences, support systems and resources help them mold their career and create a strong identity as a student athlete. One that transcends the wins and losses, injuries and recovery, workouts and competitions. This identity is something they wear with pride like a badge of honor.
It is a privilege to be a student athlete and most of the individuals I have come across understand the great responsibility that also comes with that role.
The time as a student athlete drags on and goes by in a flash simultaneously and then one day, it is over. The transition from being a student athlete to a former student athlete happens in an instant. On the last pitch, that last free throw, with the sound of the buzzer, the last race or the last putt on the 18th hole. Their identity changes instantly. Some athletes feel the impact of this immediately and some experience the loss of identity over time as they leave college and get farther away from their college athletics career.
That is why I want to coach, support and guide former student athletes through this experience. I want to help them bridge the gap from their time on the court, course, field or in the pool to their post college life and wherever this new path takes them. I want them to see that the phenomenal skills they gained being a student athlete has transformed them and can support them as they begin their next chapter. They have learned how to be a great teammate, handle adversity and what it means to be an individual while working towards something that is bigger than themselves.
This transition away from college athletes can be difficult and challenging. Yes, they have incredible skills gained from their time in college athletics and they are embarking on an entirely new adventure as they walk across that stage to retrieve their diploma.
I want to create a community for former student athletes to have connections with others who are experiencing a similar transition even if they competed in a different sport. The game may be different but the challenges and opportunities they are embarking on are the same.
I am excited to begin a new chapter as I create and develop new coaching programs for student athletes. I am completing a lot of market research, flushing out the details, identifying effective curriculum and defining the container in which it will all be presented.
There is a lot more to come and I look forward to sharing it with you.