College Athletes Summer Work

In the article“What They Did Over Summer Vacation: Dreamed of Having One” (Sports pages, Aug. 1) Marc Tracy argues that college athletes are demanded high expectations for incoming freshman, and transfers on the first day of preseason. An incoming freshmen and transfer students often arrive early on campus and devote their “last summer” to enhance their fitness and strength for the upcoming season. I object to Marc Tracy’s argument because simple time management will provide you with the correct work you need to do to prepare yourself for the collegiate level and leisure time to enjoy the summer.

As a student athlete at Rowan University playing college sports has always been the goal. In the off-season I devoted my time to enhance my physical strength, along with my fitness. Without giving up all of my summer vacation I simply went for a run in the morning and followed up by going to my local gym to increase my physical strength. As a dedicated player to the team I made sure I always got my run and lift in because it’s super important for an incoming student to the program to be physically ready to train as a team. Assuming signing a professional contract is the final step every athlete would love to reach, the “realistic” goal growing up is to play at the collegiate level.

While being recruited for athletics at the university they informed me that I needed to approach this opportunity by showing up fit and ready to play. My leisure time was never effected by my preparation for sports because everything works better by having good time management. In my experience of summer vacation as an athlete I never found it difficult to find leisure time to do whatever I want because time managing my physical strengthening training and my time to hang with friends never affected one another. Hard work and dedication are the ultimate key to prepare you to play in a college sport. Many schools provide you with a fitness packet for you to follow and this will only help the athlete prepare what they have been working for their whole lives. In my case, I never received a packet for myself to follow so I had figure out a routine that fit best for me so that there was still time to do whatever it is that I wanted. The editor describes a scenario about how the coach demanded they report back for preseason in the best shape of your life and if you are looking to actually step on the field at the collegiate level you better be. College athletes will put in the off-season work to perform at the highest level they can possibly be and still have the a very enjoyable summer.