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 Issue date - April 25, 2003
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Sports and studies: where's all the free time?
By Megan Owens

Imagine trying to graduate in four years while waking up at 6 a.m., attending class and practicing a sport twice a day for 37 weeks a year.

Many student-athletes cannot take as many credit hours as they would like to in order to graduate on time, let alone early.

"During our soccer season we can't take 18 hours because we are gone too much and miss way too many classes," sophomore Golden Eagles women's soccer defender Martha Owens said. "So I have to take summer school. Especially with me being an education major, because it's a five-year program."

Last spring, the women's soccer team started off each day at 6 a.m. with an hour of fitness exercises at the AC, followed by going to class all day, then making their journey back up to the AC for a two-hour practice.

"All junior college transfers, new students, and students below a certain GPA must attend study hall for eight hours a week," said Ashlee Ornelas, Assistant Director of Athletic Academics.

"If the athlete doesn't get his or her hours in, I report it to their coach. The coaches do the discipline, but if it becomes a continuous problem either Scott Williams [Director of Compliance] or I will handle the [situation]," Ornelas said.

"I've been in study hall going on two years now. I am taking 15 hours plus my eight-hour study hall, so it is like I am taking 23 hours. If I don't get my study hall hours in, I have to run five at five (five miles at 5 a.m.)," Owens said.

As comes with the territory, when athletes travel to games, they miss classes. Many often pack bags full of books onto the plane to study. Sometimes that isn't enough, as they miss lectures and the notes that are taken in class.

"We have to get our work done before we leave, and turn it in early so it won't be late. Also, with one of my classes, we do a lot of group projects, it's hard for me to make those up," Owens said.

Scheduling conflicts may arise due to times classes are offered and the heavy load of weekly athletic events.

"Most of my major classes are offered only one night a week and last for three hours, and on those nights I have practice. So I don't really know when I am going to take them," sophomore goalkeeper Christy Chapman said.

With athletes being so busy with practice and games, along with a full load of classes, many of them don't find any time for a job. If they have a little extra time, they are limited by the NCAA in how much money they can make, depending on how much their scholarship is for."

So while many students work a job to pay tuition, athletes maintain scholarships through sports and academics.

"With all the work I put into soccer, it is my job," Owens said.

 
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