At most small colleges, athletics plays an instrumental role in recruitment, admission, retention and graduation for the whole student body. Athletics also impacts the feel of a campus, often in terms of school spirit and pride.
But do student-athletes fit in with the rest of their classmates? Are student-athletes engaged in campus activities and opportunities outside of their sport? Do people expect too much from student-athletes in this regard?
The concept of athletics integration is embedded into the NCAA Division III philosophy statement, and embraced by small colleges at all levels. However, what does integration mean? Each campus must determine for itself how athletics needs to integrate into the academic, co-curricular and social fabric of the institution.
Studies show that between academic and athletic commitments, student-athletes have little time for anything else. Interestingly, most student-athletes wouldn’t have it any other way. Their lives are busy, but if they had more hours in a day, student-athletes wouldn’t join the debate team, play in the orchestra, run for student government or start a new club. Most would sleep, socialize or spend more time on physical conditioning for their sport.
Most do not feel coaches expect too much of their time. They are driven competitors that want to excel. These qualities need to be nurtured, not discouraged. This innate desire to compete transfers into other aspects of student-athletes lives. Student-athletes succeed because of athletics, not in spite of it.
It is now incumbent upon athletics administrators to fully understand the impact their athletics program has on student-athletes, and be able to articulate this impact to any critics.