Here at Merrimack College the men's football team has a small Tuesday ritual. This ritual is nothing like a “Taco Tuesday” tradition, rather something less exciting. Tuesdays for the football team means practice will be held at 5:50am. Before anyone can truly understand how tough of a task this is, it is important to know the many factors that go into the Warrior’s Tuesday.
The first factor that goes into these early morning practices is the time. Having to be out on the field and ready to practice at 5:50 AM means that players must be in the locker room by at least 5:20. This would give players half an hour to get ready. Subtract the time it takes to wake up and walk or drive to the athletic complex. Additional time if a player chooses to eat breakfast. It is fair to say that these athletes need to wake up by 5 AM or sooner in order for this technique to work. However, if players require treatment or therapy before practice, they are advised to meet at the training room at 5 o'clock when it opens. This would call for players to wake up even earlier. 4:30 is a good estimate of when players would have to wake up if they want to make time for their full morning routine.
Another aspect that factors into this early morning practice is the weather. For the last few weeks it has rained at some point of the morning making field conditions worse. Wet conditions do not make the situation better in any way, but the players overcome it and practice through it. With or without the rain, anything outdoors before 6 AM is going to be cold. With Fall turning into Winter, the chances of snow is growing by the week and the temperature is slowly dropping.
After finally breaking a sweat and getting through a 2 hour practice, 8 AM rolls around and players either head straight to class, to lift, or the occasionally case of someone who has neither and they get to go back to sleep. The athletes that have 8 AM class are allowed to leave a portion of time sooner in order to make it on time for class. With this time they must make it up to the locker room, shower, and make themselves presentable for the day. On the other hand, players who do not have class can be in the 8 AM lift group. This group is required to change into lifting clothes, weight in, and be ready to go as soon as possible.
Adding this to any student-athlete’s schedule could have its effect on their day. The chances of fatigue are high adding additional class for some, positional meetings for most, and daily duties. This is no simple task and it takes a great amount of will power to wake up and take on such a day. From experience, I can speak for many when saying there’s nothing like a Tuesday morning practice as a Merrimack warrior.
