Summer Sports

For some students, the summer months provide well earned down time, but for the majority of our student athletes, summer can be among the busiest months related to athletic competitions.  Instead of competing with your high school teams, you are busy with weight lifting and conditioning - doing everything that you can to improve yourself in the off-season so that you will have a better year once competitions resume.  And, for many sports, the summer is filled with club or travel team sports.  Students and families are attending practices and competing with their out-of-school teams.  Lastly, other students will fill their summer months with athletic camps in the community or, more often, on college campuses.

I love sports.  I love the concept of pushing yourself to achieve at your highest levels, of working hard to improve in small ways that add up to a bigger accomplishment, and of the team bonding and memory sharing which comes as a result of athletics.  But I also know that sports can be a pressure cooker for so many students.  You desire to push yourself physically and emotionally to be "perfect" when perfection isn't possible.  Don't get me wrong, I want you to work hard, but I don't want the extra pressure this can generate.  Sometimes students feel this pressure from parents, grandparents or peers who expect them to be the next great star in college athletics.  Sometimes it is internal pressure that comes from trying to be "the best."  There are so many different reasons that we can take something that started out as FUN and turn it into something that is PRESSURE.  So, try to remind yourself of why you love your sport.  Work hard at practice, conditioning, summer leagues, camps, or whatever you're doing this summer for the LOVE of your sport and the good that it brings to your life.  Try to use the summer months to reconnect with that passion and interest in your sport.

And, for those of you who are looking ahead and thinking about playing sports in college, I wanted to pass along this article about some of the common myths associated with sports in college. 

4 Myths About Athletic Scholarships