By Faith Ely, NJCU Women’s Softball—
There’s a saying that goes: “Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.”
People may not understand what it’s like to be a NCAA student-athlete. If you are a college athlete you may understand what I deal with everyday. But if you are not, what I’m about to tell you may come as a surprise.
Don’t get me wrong, being a student-athlete is great, but there is so much dedication and hard work that goes into every game we play in the spring. Being a freshman in college is tough to begin with and playing softball does not make it any easier. When I first started looking at which colleges I wanted to attend last year, I didn’t think playing softball was an option for me until I met Coach Quimpo and the girls of the softball team.
Once we started college, Fall Ball began. We practiced three to four times for about five weeks, constantly learning new techniques. Fall Ball practice consists of working and starting from the basics so that all of the players are on the same level. We learned proper ways to throw, new ways, of fielding a ground ball, and new hitting techniques.
After Fall Ball ended, we started conditioning in JMAC. We conditioned twice a week but it was recommended that to do some more on your own, in which I did. During conditioning, we work on key muscles in the body that we use for softball. Each session consists of starting with cardio. After that we do circuits of plyometrics, legs, arms, chest, back, and shoulders. We do 4 sets of 15 on each muscle group. Next we do an abs circuit and sometimes another cardio workout. These sessions last about two hours.
Being part of a team makes me realize it is not all about you. I’m not obsessed with softball. Our team works so hard, so when we are faced with teams in the early we will be ready.
My normal day starts off at 6:00am, when I wake up, go shower, get ready for my day. Living in the dorms on campus makes it easier for me to get to places on time. Around 8:00am I go and have breakfast at the café. I normally have egg whites with milk. At 9:00am my class starts and then ends at 11:50am. I have 10 minutes after that to get to my next class. The next class is from 12:00pm-12:50pm. After that, I have to go to study hall from 1:00pm-3:00pm. Between study hall I try to grab a healthy snack or meal to hold me over until my next meal.
As a student-athlete, it is required to do study hall for a certain amount of time during the week. Study hall keeps me up with my homework with no distractions. When study hall ends, the team goes right to strength and conditioning.
Once that is over, which is around 8:00pm, I eat dinner then do any unfinished homework. Depending on what needs to be done, I finish around midnight.
It only gets harder from here because the spring will be busy. But the spring is where all the hard work and dedication now pays off.