Tanner Conley
Staff Writer
They compete on the field, on the court and on the track. Day in and day out, they work to improve their craft through hours in the gym. Some call them jocks, ballers and runners, but they are just the same as most of the university community. They are students.
Many people associate the idea of athletics in college in somewhat simple terms. Shows like Blue Mountain State often romanticize sports in college as nothing more than playing a game all day and partying all night, when in reality the opposite is often true. This is why it can be considered such an amazing feat that the University of Wyoming ranked number one with more fall academic all-conference honors than any other team in the Mountain West.
Coming in with a total of 74 honored athletes in five different sports, Wyoming barely edged out Boise State, who had 73 athletes. The total of 74 was made up of 38 Cowgirls and 36 Cowboys.
In order to be recognized, student-athletes must have completed one academic term for their institution, achieved and maintained a cumulative 3.00 grade point average (GPA) and be a starter or significant contributor to the team.
“We are extremely proud of the academic
achievements of our student-athletes,” said Tom Burman, University of
Wyoming athletics director in an interview with Tim Harkins, associate athletic
director for communications. “To see a trend like we have in recent
years, with the growing number of our young men and women earning academic
honors, is both a reflection of the types of individuals our coaches are
recruiting to the University of Wyoming and the academic programs we’ve been
able to put in place to assist our student-athletes to succeed academically.”
The Fall academic honorees came from five sports. The numbers for each sport are as follows:
- Cowgirl Soccer-20 student-athletes
- Cowboy Football-27 student-athletes
- Men’s Cross Country- 9 student-athletes
- Women’s Cross Country-8 student-athletes
For most student-athletes, the combination of both the tedious nature of athletics and the constant demands of the academic side of life can often have large repercussions on their lives. One of the more notable areas of suffering is monetarily.
Not every student athlete is given a full-ride scholarship. Many have to supplement their tuition from other sources, and this can take an extra toll. Trying to find a job that will work around a class schedule and a practice schedule may not be an easy task. Making that job pay enough to support a weekly Walmart run can be harder still.
Matthew Bebo, a veteran of Sheridan College’s men’s soccer program and current UW student, is familiar with the challenge of juggling school, work, and athletics.
“I felt I would have fallen behind if I got a job,” Bebo said. “If I had a job I wouldn’t be able to balance school, work and athletics (due to the competing schedules).”
When the entire reason to attend college is threatened by time constraints, it can be understandable to see why many athletes choose to forgo a job altogether. The resulting monetary deficit is often uncovered by scholarships, resulting in even more financial woe for already heavily taxed students.
But there is more to this than just money; other factors of life are affected as well. One such factor being some students’ favorite part of college: the social aspect.
“I kind of gave up my social life so I could be able to perform in the classroom and in sports” Bebo said.
With so much time dedicated to athletics, whether in the form of training or actually playing the sport, there is little time left over for social activities. Especially when considering how much time is already dedicated to coursework in any degree program.
“I never really went out and when I did anything, it was mainly with teammates or stuff that was on campus,” Bebo said.
This statement reflects the mentality that so many other athletes share. When there is only an hour and a half left to have fun before you need to move on to the next thing, what else is there to do but hang out with teammates or attend campus events? It is the sort of problem that is never considered until someone brings it up externally.
With all of this in mind, it is nothing short of impressive that these 74 young men and women managed to balance work, life and play to such an extraordinary degree that they need to be honored for their achievements.
