Tips for Academic Excellence

Athletes work incredibly hard to perform their best on the field, the court, and in the pool. They train, practice, and compete to be able to participate in their favorite sport at a high level. When you are an athlete in high school, you have even more stuff to juggle.

In between homework, essays, projects, and exams, student athletes have to work to balance both their student and athletic lives. Being able to master the balancing act is crucial to your success in high school. And your success in high school, both academically and athletically, will help determine whether or not you can get recruited.

There are too many athletes who just assume that their athletic talents will land them a huge scholarship. They fail to recognize that being a student-athlete means you are a student first, and an athlete second. To be eligible to compete at the college level, you need to meet the academic requirements to be accepted to the school.

Your grades and SAT/ACT scores are as equally important as your sports stats and athletic skills. College coaches won’t be interested in someone who doesn’t perform in the classroom and only relies on their athletic talents to get them through school.

Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your academics:

Be Organized: Being able to keep your school work organized will help ensure that you won’t miss an assignment or test because you forgot or it got lost. You should make a calendar for your classes and make sure to write down everything that is due and when you need to study for a test. Remember, studying for a test is best done in shorter increments for a longer duration of time. In other words, that 5hour long “cram” session the day prior to a test is actually less effective than studying 30min to 1hour each day for a week prior to the test.

Stop Procrastinating: Student-athletes do not have time to procrastinate. The sooner they learn to stay on top of their studies, the easier they will find keeping up with college assignments will be. Most classes will be rotated—you will have say a Calculus class on Monday and Wednesdays with a Finance class Tuesday and Thursday. Even if your Finance class assigns you homework or studies on Tuesday and it is not due until Thursday, DO NOT WAIT. Do the assignment right after class if you are able to. Doing assignments the day they are assigned will keep the knowledge of the subject fresh allowing the student-athlete to get it done quicker and more accurately. Subsequently, this will free up more time for the student-athlete to do things outside of school and sports.

It is crucial to get this time-management down the first semester before season starts. Many assignments and studies will carry through weekends. It is a good idea for the student-athlete to try to have all work and most studies done before the bus-rides (they can be pretty distracting especially when you’re trying to get into the zone for a game or if you are coming home from a great win).

Find Help: Your high school offers great resources for you if you are struggling in school. If you find you are having difficulty keeping up with school work, or you need extra help understanding a certain subject, make sure you take advantage of a tutor or you ask your teachers more questions. Teachers love students who take the initiative to ask for help if needed. That is what teachers are there for. If you are struggling in a class, don’t sit back and hope you’ll do better. Go up to the teacher, ask to sit down with him or her and try to figure out what it is you are missing. It is much harder to catch up after falling behind, so be proactive and avoid it.

Get Serious: Your grades determine where you will be able to go to college, and college has a huge impact on your entire future. Don’t take your school decision lightly, especially if you are looking to get recruited to play college sports. College coaches take grades seriously and only want athletes who also do well in class. You should realize the importance of your education. There is no MLB for softball unfortunately. Your degree will help you establish a career in something other than playing sports.

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