September 30, 2019
NCAA HQ Building Name
One [Name] Ave
City, STATE. Zip
Dear [Name of the head of NCAA],
I am a freshman in college at Notre Dame De Namur University in Belmont, California; I am also an athlete here at the University as a health sciences major. I play for the Women’s Soccer team and as a college student-athlete; I am coming to you with a problem that I believe affects a lot of the athletes, including myself, that are playing within the NCAA.
Time Management.
I can very confidently say that if not all, at least the majority of student-athletes have struggled with time management in their lifetime or are currently still struggling with it. Between balancing their sport and their schoolwork, the life of a student-athlete is not exactly easy. It takes something more out a person to dedicate yourself to not only furthering your education but being fully committed to playing a sport. It can be hard for people who are on the outside looking in to understand that we pour our heart and soul into what we do, whether it’s on a field, a court, a track, or even a pool, our sports make up so much of our lives. Now, I am sure these are all things you already know, seeing as you are probably very familiar with the life of a student-athlete. The reason I am writing to you with this issue is because the NCAA has so much power and influence on these college athletes and their lives. I genuinely believe you are someone who has the right voice and the right authority to really make an impactful change that will benefit the lives of these young adults. I think the demand and expectations for us as student-athletes really take a toll on us personally as individuals. It’s easy to get lost in the pressure of trying to exceed everyone’s expectations, to never let anyone down, especially ourselves. I have been a student-athlete pretty much my whole life and finding the time to do homework, study for tests, go to practice, go to games, and participate in other normal life things has never been easy and I know an abundance of other people who can relate. I know from personal experience that you are constantly put in the spotlight to try and be someone everyone is pleased with, whether it’s your coach, your teachers, your parents, or your friends, there is always someone expecting a specific version of you. Now, I am not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing because to a certain extent it’s good to have people that push you and expectations that make you want to work harder, but the whole point of it all is so that we are successful both in our sports and in our classrooms and a lot of the times that is not the case, a lot of the times we are pushed too hard and then forced to deal with the repercussions on our own.
Last year during my club soccer season, I had a teammate who had really felt all the struggles and pressures of having to manage between being both a student and an athlete. It was around the time in which we had to travel to San Diego for a really big tournament. She was a very intelligent individual, both on the field and in the classroom but she really had no life outside of those two things. She was constantly being bothered by her teachers to do better than she was; meanwhile our coach and her dad were pressuring her to perform better on the field. This is a very common scenario in a college athletes’ life, however, instead of really getting help from the people around us we are told “that’s what it means to be a student-athlete” or “you should be managing your time better” or “maybe being a student-athlete wasn’t meant for you” and so on. The point is we are told to brush off our struggles because “we should be able to do it,” we are already expected to know how to be the perfect student-athlete but we are never actually taught how to be one or are even given the right resources to be truly successful. Many a time, we go through these struggles and pressures on our own. We take everything upon ourselves because we do not want to appear weak, we do not want to disappoint, which usually just makes matters worse. Most of the student-athletes I know are very strong individuals, they endure so much and yet continue to what they do. Whatever the person’s reason is for being a student-athlete, I think we as a whole community need a better support system and better access resources, whether that means having frequent presentations from a panel of experts who can tell us how to better approach our hectic lives or implementing certain rules that can improve the way we do things now. I would even suggest having designated counselors for specific sports teams, so we are getting the proper help and attention we need.
The purpose of this letter is to implement a way in which student-athletes can be more successful in both of the biggest aspects of their lives without so much pressure and stress. I am striving for these young adults to be prosperous student-athletes, rather than the mediocre, barely making-it, constantly-struggling student-athletes you would normally see. I believe given the right resources and the right kind of push and support from the right people a lot of these student-athletes struggling to be good students, star athletes, and maintain a normal social life will be so much happier and successful, which is what I think everyone involved should want.
Sincerely,
[Isabella Sila]
Isabella Sila 