In recent years, I’ve had the great honor of giving talks to groups of NCAA Division I athletes. I relish the opportunity to regale them with stories of my days as a college baseball player. I share the lessons learned from my NCAA experience in three areas:
- work ethic
- character development
- building a quiet confidence
I choose every one of my words carefully. My goal is to help the student athlete view their time on campus as an invaluable opportunity to graduate with both a degree and an unshakeable character.
I want them to know the NCAA experience is preparing them for the real world.
NCAA Student Athletes Are Unique
According to NCAA statistics, there are currently 8 million students participating in high school athletics in the United States. Of these, only 480,000 will compete at NCAA schools. That means only 6% of those playing sports in high school will eventually earn the distinction of being called a “student athlete.”
As a competitive NCAA student athlete, you learn to manage a full schedule, deal with frequent failure and foster resilience. You receive better coaching at the collegiate level, resulting in a more coachable individual.
On your journey to becoming a good teammate, you learn to be just as driven by the success of others as by your own. Leadership skills are developed while ascending to the rank of upper classman.
The NCAA Experience is Different
The demands on a student athlete cannot be fully appreciated until you’ve lived the experience for yourself. In addition to a tough practice schedule, athletes are expected in the gym for weight training & conditioning.
On top of class lectures, there is mandatory study hall. Student athletes often miss tests and arrange for extra tutoring sessions because of travel. They’re often forced to study on a crowded team bus or in a cramped corner of a hotel room. Spring Break is a week-long party their classmates talk about, but the student athlete will never experience.
Johnny Fraternity’s college life isn’t the same as that of student athletes. If Johnny F. misses an early morning class due to late night shenanigans, it’s of little or no consequence to his immediate future. Johnny doesn’t have a coach who must win to keep his job—a job that feeds his family.
Nobody will jump Johnny’s a$$ for missing class. Hungover from last night’s indiscretions, he’ll be sick once. The student athlete who makes the same unwise decision pukes at least twice: Once due to the hangover, and then again as he runs “stadiums” until his coach tells him to stop. Or so someone told me. Only one of them learns from his mistake. Only one of them is likely to party on a school night again.
Equip Yourself For Life
In 2014, I attended a banquet at which the guest speaker was current LSU Head Football Coach Ed Orgeron. His message was simple, and I share it with young people every chance I get:
“The work ethic you develop between the ages of 18-22 is going to carry you forward the rest of your life.” – Coach Ed Orgeron, LSU
The college years are a golden (and purple, in his case) opportunity to begin incorporating habits and disciplines into your daily life that will serve as the launch pad for lifelong achievement.
Character Development
Make it your rule in life to do more than is expected of you for character development. Living by this rule as a student athlete requires you to spend more time studying and less time playing video games. You’ll delete time-suck apps from your smartphone; instead, read a book written by someone who has reached the pinnacle of your sport.
Consistent application of your life’s rule for character development (do more than is expected of you) is a force multiplier that will allow the compounding effect to take root. Most worthwhile achievements are the result of compounding—none more important than high character.
Compel yourself to do things others aren’t willing to do. Find a way into the gym when it’s closed or a batting cage when no one else is around.
The extra effort will manifest in your early returns. It could be more playing time, a starting role, becoming Academic All-Conference or improving your pro prospects. Let the early returns fuel you to invest even more in yourself.
Faithfully adhere to your rule and trust in the compounding process—you’re building an unshakeable character that will serve you throughout your college years and beyond.
Building Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is earned. It is a by-product of character development. Playing competitive sports at the collegiate level grants repeated opportunities for you to trust the work you put in.
As you grip the bat and make eye contact with the pitcher you’re about to face, you need to know you’ve outworked him or her. The same holds true if wearing pads and helmet locking eyes with your opponent before the snap. Here is the formula:
Trusting the work you put in = confidence
Confidence is further developed by combining trust that you have in your work with the ability to steady your emotions in the face of obstacles—the two work hand in hand. Thus, the key to your success or failure in collegiate sports (and life) will largely be determined by your work ethic and ability to remain calm under pressure.
Your performance level will always be a reflection of your preparation. – Dr. William Imsais
Self-confidence isn’t boastful or arrogant. How could it be? It is threaded with humility of experience. You know how it feels to strikeout with a packed stadium watching, drop a pass with 50,000 sets of eyes staring down at you, or miss a free throw in the waning seconds of a game with an entire arena of fans holding their collective breath.
True self-confidence = a quiet confidence
Entering the Real World After NCAA Experience
Upon graduating and entering the workforce, your resume may have a lack of work experience; in the traditional sense, at least. But if you take full advantage of the opportunities that have been afforded to you as a student athlete, you will enter the workforce equipped with a talent stack your classmates will not have acquired. On your resume, you can justifiably add the following:
- Self-Confident
- Coachable
- Team Player
- High Character
- Strong work ethic
If your future mentor or hiring manager is a former NCAA student athlete, he or she will smile and nod approvingly.
Your performance level will always be a reflection of your preparation! I love it
Me too! “Billy” is one of my best buds. He’s also one of the smartest guys I know.