It's still dark out. And cold. Your roommate went to bed about an hour ago. Yet your alarm is going off and it's time to get up, and a few minutes later, going to crew practice, you envy the rest your still-sleeping peers. You might even question why you're putting yourself through such a rigorous schedule - and whether it's worth it. For some student athletes, participating in sports at the college level proves too time consuming, too stressful, and too competitive. From crew to cross country, lacrosse to soccer, there are athletes leaving their sports teams for more relaxing endeavors.
Most athletes who quit cite their team's rigid schedule as a reason to leave the sport. For this reason, the women's crew team has lost several rowers just this year. "There's seven people that quit in a month's time," said sophomore Ali Kaplan, an ex-crew member.
Rowers usually get up between 4:30 and 5 a.m. to run three miles to Harvard and then row for an hour and a half. Many of the rowers who recently quit crew said that the team's early morning schedule became too much to handle. "I wasn't getting enough sleep," Kaplan said.
Sophomore Beibhinn O'Donoghue, who also quit crew, echoed Kaplan's sentiments. "I'm not a morning person at all," she said. "The days just got really long."
Gary Caldwell, coach of the women's crew team, agreed that students often find the team's time commitment stressful. "[The crew schedule] is 180 degrees away from other people on campus," he said. Since the team usually advertises for freshmen and novice upperclassmen in the fall, new team members are often not prepared for crew's rigid schedule and competitiveness. After spending a semester or a year on the team, Caldwell said that new members must "see where they are academically and where they are on the hierarchy of the team."
Since Tufts fosters a competitive academic environment, it is often difficult for athletes to balance their schoolwork and their sport. "You have to be so strong academically and so well rounded [at Tufts]," Caldwell said.
After a grueling first season or two, inevitably some rowers decide that crew is too great a sacrifice of their academic and social lives. "I wasn't happy," said sophomore Christina Wheeler, who quit crew this January. "I had no social life. I was always tired and my grades went down."
Sophomore Scott Kronewitter, like some of the crew members, found it difficult to run cross-country and keep up with his classes and work. He said he spent "too much time doing the actual sport." In addition to training and running at meets, he said that runner's bodies require a lengthy recovery time to recuperate after running long distances. He decided to quit track and join the ballroom dance team. Although he still runs for fun, Kronewitter is happy with dancing, a sport that requires virtually no recovery time after practices and competitions.
Like Kronewitter, who found his niche in dancing, many women stay on the crew team - despite its unusual schedule - because of their love of the sport. "It is a sport that requires dedication," O'Donoghue said.
After playing high school sports for several years, student-athletes often find the transition to college sports difficult. Caldwell said that an athlete who was the best rower on his or her team in high school might not be the best rower at college.
Some athletes also have difficulty adjusting to their team's coaching staff and style. "[There are] people who feel like the coaching staff is not the coaches they want to row for," Caldwell said.
Although both O'Donoghue and Kronewitter said that their team's respective coaches -Caldwell and cross-country coach Connie Putnam - were very understanding when they left their teams, tension can build between student-athletes and coaches. Wheeler never received a phone call from any of the crew coaches after she quit the team in January. "I feel like the coach didn't care about me," she said.
On the other hand, coaches often find it frustrating when students leave before the end of the season. "Misunderstandings and tensions can occur when people leave partway through the season," Caldwell said. "Any time you put an investment in a student athlete, you want to see them stay the course."
Some students wish they could have stayed the course. "I miss [field hockey] terribly and regret it, but I've found other stuff [at Tufts]," Erin, a sophomore, said. O'Donoghue agreed. "I miss people and I miss the sport," she said.
Despite this, athletes who quit teams quickly learn to appreciate their less hectic schedules. Now, they can spend more time with friends and get a good night's rest. "I feel like I can stay awake in class now," Kaplan said.
