Off-Season Advice

Photo by: Ashley Alonzo 

“Welcome back from break!” is all we heard during the first week of school. While the break was great, we seemed to kill the first and second week of school.

Senioritis is about to strike (if it hasn’t already), yet the problem is that not only do seniors suffer from senioritis, but the majority of fall students-athletes at Ottawa University begin to slightly dislike school, miss classes and fall asleep during class time.

Listen here, fall students-athletes, it can be overwhelming to stay focus when our sport is over since our motivation seems to drop, but here is the thing: Most of the upperclassmen returners know what off-season feels like. However, first-year students and transfers must be prepared for long days of tiredness.

Off-season is not only about going to class but also a time of hardship when coaches schedule practices at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. or in between classes. There are some cases were coaches make their off-season schedule past the deadline, forcing their players to exercise or practice their sport past 9 p.m.

Crazy workout schedules can be overwhelming and intervene with work or even force you to change your job hours. Heads up, because this means less sleep for you!

Another problem presented is trying to find time for homework. Coaches try to set up study hall hours during season, but due to the crazy off-season schedule, all students-athletes try to find any random time of their day or pull all-nighters with coffee overloads to stay awake.

All this sounds horrible but if we survived conditioning during season, we can overcome off-season. All it takes is a little bit of confidence in yourself and the desire to be great.

Work hard five days of the week, so then day number six and seven are your rest days.

It might be a little difficult to have the last day open for rest since many of us have jobs. But relax a little and always remember, college is hard, it can be overwhelming and can make you want to quit several times. Just remember it is all worth it.

Hang in there! All the hard-work will pay off and you will eventually be off to summer break. Then you will have time to rest and continue to work hard in order to be ready for a successful season and a great semester of classes.