Mid-Week Grind

by Tristan Hobbes

On Thursday, the Boston University women’s soccer team did one of the toughest things to do in college sports. On a school day, the Terriers departed Boston at 11:15 a.m. for a 3 p.m. afternoon game at the University of New Hampshire. For those of you who have never played college sports you may be thinking, ‘so what?’ As a former Division 3 baseball player, I can tell you the ‘so what’.

Athletes like to have a consistent routine. That could mean getting up at the same time every day, grabbing some food, a coffee and then heading to class. For me, as a collegiate baseball player, it was getting breakfast every morning at the same time and then going to class. Throw in practice, games and workouts and you have yourself a tough schedule.

Thursday, the Terriers’ daily routine was thrown off by a 3 p.m. start on the road. The sleep pattern changes as excitement builds, you might not eat as much, you have to get work handed in before leaving and then the bus ride. All that excitement is brought down to earth as you sit on a Peter Pan bus for two hours. All the while school work passes through your head. Do I read now? Do I do homework? Did I forget something? Should I just prepare for the game? What was that paper on that is due tomorrow?

The greatest feeling is the relief of arriving at your destination. You step off the bus and step into the role of athlete. It is time to play, time to compete and time to kick some butt. It is also time to leave the school work on the bus. No need for that to run through your head when you are deciding to shoot far post or near post.

Game over. You win. An emotional high ensues. How can you possibly get any work done now? You leaf through a few pages and tell yourself it is going to be a long night. That’s the life of a student-athlete on a mid-week day trip. Pretty tough, huh?