When it comes to student athletes, some wonder what the secret behind their success is. Whether it is the amount of time spent on the field, in the gym or a combination of both, this student has it all under control.
So how do they manage all their time between classes, training, and playing? For Concordia Stingers men’s soccer player Sammy Tork, it’s all about managing the schedule.
“The key word is time management here, because one has to able to be organized and composed when assorting the different events within their week,” said Tork.
Tork, a first year sociology student, is also in his rookie year with the team. He believes that in order to be a great student athlete, schoolwork has to be done beforehand.
“When it comes to school, the thing which has been working for me is that I never do anything last minute, and make sure I do my homework before training to avoid fatigue when doing homework,” explained Tork. “Once it’s done, I have a great sense of relief and I can go train at ease knowing I can rest or do some easy readings for the week calmly.”
Shauna Zilversmit, a first-year journalism student playing for the women’s soccer team, has a different approach to getting all her assignments done.
“When I have homework that needs to be done and I have a traveling game, I bring the work with me and work on it on the bus,” said Zilversmit. She does, however, agree with Tork that time management is key to success as a student athlete.
“It’s all about time management, self-discipline, and determination,” she said.
Tork trains four to five times a week at Concordia’s downtown gym. He also has team practice twice a week. In order to do all these things, the Stingers forward makes sure to create his schedule as early as possible in order to get classes that he can shape his training schedule around.
Zilversmit currently has two team practices a week as well, and goes to the gym twice a week. Sometimes she has to miss practice due to classes being at the same time.
“We try our best not to have school during practice times, but sometimes it’s unavoidable and our coaching staff understands that,” said Zilversmit.
All in all, dealing with busy schedules is part of being a student athlete.
