by Terri Edinburgh

Created on: June 27, 2008

Becoming A Successful College Academic Athlete
My daughter's dream came true the day she received a full-ride scholarship to play basketball for San Jose State University, a Division 1 college. I point this out because rules and requirements at the Division 2 level are a little different than at the Division 1 level. She was made well aware of the challenges that she would face as a full-time college student carrying fifteen units and a college student athlete. But it is one thing to prepare one's self for the "ride"; it is something altogether different to experience the "ride."

I believe female college athlete's experiences are different from male college athletes. Not to say that a female's experience is any harder than a male's experience, but it does pose, let's say, different challenges. To be a successful college student athlete, your academic performance has to be just as successful. Most athletes, whether female or male, lose their eligibility to play and/or their scholarship based upon their academic performance. The best preparation for academic success and athletic success is to be prepared.

To prepare my daughter, I first wanted her to understand what it would take to be academically successful. First, to carry fifteen semester units is like a full-time job. You put in a lot of hours of reading, studying, and writing. Depending upon the nature of the class, you may also have to put in additional hours for lab work, and other outside work. You must never become lazy about attending class and try not to fall behind with your studies. Never take for granted the "little" things like quizzes, short answer papers, etc. A lot of times, it's those "little" things that can be the difference between passing/failing a class or getting a "C" grade instead of a "D."

I told my daughter to never be afraid to talk to her teachers when she didn't understand something; needed help with an assignment; or needed a break because of her basketball. But also, as an athlete, to never use that to your advantage because it could come back to bite you in the butt! I wanted my daughter to understand that coaches monitor your academic progress throughout the school year through continuous progress reports and discussions with your teachers. Most coaches, as my daughter's did, take their athletes academic performance and success very seriously. One of the reasons why is that if you cannot do what it takes to perform in the classroom, you cannot do what it takes to perform in your

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