Student Athletes Juggle Academics and Sports

By Melvin Keldo, Whetstone Contributor

 

There’s a lot more to being an athlete than practicing and playing.

“We have required study hall,” said 22-year-old softball captain Ashly Bendorovich. “It helps me be organized and I have to have a good relationship with my professors since we have away games.”

But it still can get frantic.

“It can be hectic from going class to class and then go to softball and also missing classes on game day,” she said. “I grew up playing softball, it’s like a family thing and I just love the family aspect of it.”

There are even student athletes who play more than one sport.

“Playing football here, it makes me feel like I’m apart of something” said junior Matthew Bundy. “As an athlete you get positive attention and everybody knows who you are. Same goes for track but you shine more individually.”

According to Bundy, when you play a sport in college, you tend to become popular.

“You get a lot of positive attention and everybody knows who you are” he said. “The cons of being an athlete is that your body is

going ache, and with spring ball and weight room, I barley have time for myself.”

Student athletes also must keep their grades up to stay on the team.

“For me,” said junior lacrosse player Kacee Cooke, “the pros of being a student athlete is that I get to stay in shape, be part of a team and getting a lot of stress out of me. The cons, however, are balancing my work, getting through school and doing homework.”

Many athletes may come to Wesley College to play a sport, but some end college long after leaving the sport.

“Football taught me how to be disciplined and deal with adversity,” said junior Felix Ortiz. “But I had to let it go. I felt like the time I spent playing football was time I can use becoming more interactive around campus.”

Ortiz played football for three years but decided to stop playing last fall.

“I started losing passion for the sport and I didn’t want to carry that mentality through the season and around my teammates,” Ortiz said.

Some players just lose the passion.

“I have love for the sport of football but when I played for Wesley I didn’t enjoy it at all,” said junio Anthony Clark Phillips. “I didn’t feel a part of the team. I felt as if I were just there.”

Phillips decided to attend the walk-on tryouts during his freshman year in 2011. He made the football team in 2012.

“I didn’t feel like I was a part of the team when I played,” Phillips said. “I felt I never got the chance to showcase what I have to bring.”