For eight years my falls were spent the same way. I guess my winters, springs and summers were spent doing that too. It has been two years since my last field hockey season. Two falls spent watching my friends finish their college careers, watching my sister play her first field hockey games, and two falls listening to college athletes complain about how hard their lives are. It hasn't been easy accepting the fact that I will never have those experiences again, so here's my advice to those still playing.
To the college athletes that complain about their current situation I say, "I know... it's rough". The problem with collegiate athletics is it makes the game you love feel like a full blown job. It's hard to see the positive of practicing 20+ hours a week. It's hard to play for a coach that doesn't care about your wellbeing. It's hard to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to do conditioning. I can promise you this though, when it's all said and done, you'll miss it. Every second. You'll miss practicing 20+ hours a week, traveling across the country and waking up at 5 a.m. because that's when you make the friendships that will last a lifetime. When you're 1500 miles away from your best friend you will not see the bad, you will miss the good. For every coach that doesn't care, there is one that will stand by you for a lifetime.
Remember why you started playing and, more importantly, kept playing until you reached the collegiate level. The first season you picked up a stick you lived for every single practice. In fact, you spent hours in the yard after practice because you just couldn't get enough. It's hard to channel that athlete in college. That athlete is the one you'll remember when it's all over. You'll remember how supportive your family and friends were growing up. The support will be appreciated even more after playing an entire college season where your parents were only able to come up and hug you after one of your games. Thank your parents for giving you every opportunity imaginable.
Stay in contact with the coaches that cared. They'll periodically check up and you and you'll periodically check up on them. After all, they were always one of your biggest fans. They have always known you will go on to succeed in things far more important than athletics and will continue to have to reassure you of that when it's over. The friends you meet through college athletics will last a lifetime. You may get sick of seeing these people 24/7 but, when you get to see them once a year you'll miss them like crazy. At first, you keep in touch with them on a daily basis. Slowly your new lives get in the way and texts and calls become less frequent but way more valuable. You'll hate yourself for not being able to drive to go see your best friends during the best of times, as well as, the worst of times.
My situation was different. I quit and transferred to a school back home. So maybe that's why I still have such a hard time coping with the loss of one sport that my life centered around. I had a choice and my decision was to cut my experience short. Regardless, when it's all said and done, athletes go through a sort of identity crisis. When there are no more practices, no more games, no more best friends downstairs, no more great coaches and no more glory, you have to reinvent yourself.The good news is dedication and perseverance run in our blood. At the end of the day, you will approach everything like you approached games in college. Sometimes you win, more importantly, you lose. You go back out and figure out how to get better. Cherish what you have now because in a couple months you'll be wishing it could last forever.
