Recruiting 101
Fall Signing Week '14: Balancing Time Between Court and Classroom
by NCSA, 16 November 2014
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With Fall Signing Week at hand, tennis players are faced with the next challenge: finding time to practice, while keeping up in the college classroom.
College is a time to discover yourself and gain the skills you'll need for the rest of your life. But you have to take care that in the process of self-discovery, you don't lose track of time and get behind on any of your work.
And for college tennis players, it's even more important to stay on top of everything. The NCAA has set requirements when it comes to the GPA an athlete must maintain to keep an athletic scholarship, and the years it takes for her to graduate - all based on the division of play. Even in Division III, where scholarships aren't specifically tied to athletics, coaches have access to their tennis roster's grades, and hold their players to a high standard.
We've asked Brandon Videtich and Will Gilhooly, tennis alumni at NCSA Athletic Recruiting, to share tips and strategies that helped them maintain a healthy balance in college.
Figure out what works for you
"As a freshman, everyone has to experiment with what does and doesn't work," Brandon says. "I did."
Brandon found it easiest to keep track of his practice and workout schedule as well as upcoming assignments, tests and meetings. "When I flew by the seat of my pants or slacked a little bit pushing things off, that was when I found myself always struggling to catch up," he says. "I needed a student-athlete planner. I had a list and a plan for what I had to do and what needed to be accomplished."
"At least have a plan or a to-do list to keep you on track," he says. "Procrastinating is one of the easiest things to do in college. You now have all of this freedom, but you also have a lot more responsibility."
Find out how your school is prepared to help you
Most schools have programs specifically designed to help tennis players balance their schedules. "At Nebraska, as a freshman you are required to attend study hours every week. And we had the ability to set up tutors and our academic counselors were willing to help set up study groups if there were lots of athletes taking the same class," Brandon says.