Sports in College

By Paige Captain on August 1, 2017

When I was in high school, it felt like everyone was a part of a sport; it was just the normal thing to do. It seemed to be somewhat of a fun and social thing as well. However now that I’m halfway through college, I’m slowly starting to realize that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

It wasn’t until this past school year when my roommate started dating this guy who was on the baseball team that I really started to notice this. First of all, the baseball team would have practice every single day and sometimes would have weight training in addition to these practices. Then on top of all that, they would have one to three games a week (which normally consisted of traveling far distances to other schools).

I was so taken aback by how demanding the sport was! I seriously did not understand how any of the players got any school work done. I even asked my roommate when her boyfriend did his homework and she said that the only time he really had to do it was super late at night.

So if doing a sport in high school really is much less of a commitment than doing a sport in college, why do so many students still choose to do so? Or maybe they don’t? Either way, I was very curious to see how I measured up to my peers when it came to sports in high school versus sports in college.

I want to start by establishing my own personal experience with sports (both in high school and in college).

For me personally, I ran both track and cross country for both my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I took junior year off, and then ended up getting injured senior year so I was not able to run. Then when I got to college, I decided not to join the track and/or cross country team for essentially two reasons. My first was that I genuinely did not feel that I was good enough to compete at a college level. My second reason was time; even before I started college I just assumed all my time would be spent doing school work.

The first reason wasn’t necessarily true; I’m sure if I wanted to be “good” I could have worked harder to achieve that. I guess the second reason ended up being partly true. I feel like if I did not work, I could have been able to handle school and a sport. However, for me personally, it is just very important that I have a job.

The first person I interviewed was my best friend, Melanie (whom I interviewed for my fashion article). She said that she did sports in high school mainly just because it was required and that she didn’t do sports in college because her school didn’t offer them.

The next person I interviewed was my boyfriend, Zach. He said that he did do sports in high school but not in college. He added that in high school sports to him were a way to make friends and get exercise whereas now in college he is too busy to work, go to school, and be in sports.

The last person I interviewed was my friend Abby. She also did sports in high school but not in college. She said that she simply did sports in high school to have fun and now in college, she just doesn’t have the time.

I know I only interviewed a small pool of students but it’s crazy to me how time seems to be the main factor. However, I would like to add that conducting this interview made me realize things I otherwise would not have.

For example, when Mel told me that her school did not provide the option of doing sports, I remember thinking to myself, “oh yeah.” While my current university has many different sports, including football, there are many (normally smaller) universities that don’t have a football team. My boyfriend goes to Cal Poly Pomona and they don’t have a football team.

Although I mentioned time playing a big factor in the decision to play sports in college or not, I truly think it comes down to passion. If you are someone who is passionate about a specific sport I believe you will do whatever it takes to make time for that sport. On the other hand, if you don’t really care to play a sport and would rather devote your time to something else, by all means, do that! I really think there is no right or wrong overall decision. In my opinion, it’s one of those “to each their own” type of situations.

Thanks for reading!

-Paige

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format