As my boyfriend enters into his final season as a college athlete, I’ve been thinking about how excited I am for it as well. I would go to the games even before he was my boyfriend, so I’m pretty invested in the team at this point. This isn’t going to be some dramatic article about how dating a college athlete has changed my life, but I sure have learned a lot over the course of the past three seasons.
Injuries can happen in a blink of an eye.
My boyfriend has gotten seriously injured in two out of his three seasons. Luckily, I wasn’t there to actually witness either injury, but I was around for the subsequent surgeries. I even had to push him around in a wheelchair for over three weeks when he tore his ACL. I’ve learned that something serious and life-changing (even just for a few months) can happen in a second and I pray for all the players’ safety before every game, because anything can happen so suddenly.
I can survive all kinds of weather.
I've sweated in 90-degree weather watching games early in the season, and I've also worn eight different layers and a blanket watching end of season games. If you need any tips on how to dress for any weather, I am your ultimate guide.
Girlfriends are considered a “distraction.”
I feel like a lot of coaches think that when players have significant others, they automatically are less invested in the sport or the team. However, I have never once asked to be or felt like I get to have priority or precedence over the sport. Soccer has been a part of his life for more than four times as long as I have, and there's no way I would make him make that choice. There may come a time when I'm the top priority, but during the soccer season I understand that this takes precedent. I also understand that soccer is what is putting him through school, and I can't ask him to put that aside just to pay a little more attention to me.
The team is a family.
It's the best feeling in the world when my boyfriend tells me that one of his teammates asked how I was doing or when they will smile and say hi to me whenever I see them on campus. Even though it's not like we’re all best friends or we all hang out every single weekend, there's just something really nice about knowing that there's a whole group of people that know who I am and care about my well-being to some extent because they care about his well-being.
Memorizing many schedules.
If I want to have any idea of his whereabouts or what he's up to so I'm not bugging him when he’s busy, I have to not only know my own schedule but I have to know his schedule and his practice schedule. Which can get pretty tricky when extra practices and meetings are thrown in all the time.
Family bonding.
I have clocked a truck driver’s worth of hours traveling to away games. Luckily, this has become something that his mom and I do together and it has without a doubt only brought us closer in our relationship. It’s a lot more enjoyable knowing that not only do I get a free ride to Iowa or wherever they’re playing, but the car ride will go fast because we literally can’t stop talking.
You won’t be there for it all.
Obviously, my life and responsibilities don’t fall to the wayside just because it’s soccer season, so there have been times when I’ve missed important things. I was at home when he scored his first collegiate goal, so I missed that, and I was at my sister’s homecoming when our team beat our biggest rival in a super cold, rainy, tough game. I obviously would have loved to see that! You can’t beat yourself up for not being able to see every little happening, it’s just not possible!
Dating an athlete is not like the movies.
There’s never been a passionate kiss on the bleachers in the pouring rain after he decides to leave the sport for you (looking at you Hilary Duff) and there's really not even a cute after-game picture because they either have a team meeting or they're upset that they lost and don’t want to smile for a picture!
Athletes are a special breed.
There’s something to be said about the type of person an athlete is. It takes so much mental toughness and drive to be a collegiate athlete, be a good student, have a job, and have a life, and somehow he manages to do all of that without imploding. And he honestly does an extremely good job of still making time for me and making me feel important in his life even when he has so much else going on. I know some people who can’t even manage to do just one of those things, but he manages to do it all. I have so much admiration for him, and I am so thankful that I’ve gotten a glimpse into the life of an athlete through him, because Lord knows I’m not cut out for it!
