Smith-Cotton student athletes are getting up close and personal about what to expect going into college sports.
Charlie McFail, athletic conditioning teacher and S-C football coach, also instructs a class called Collegiate Athletic Prep, for athletes planning on going to college to play a sport. McFail said the goal of the class is to “help kids start their quest for finding the right college and showing them what it takes to do so.”
McFail has started bringing in guest speakers, such as the Mango brothers, Spenser and Ryan, wrestlers who are part of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, and S-C alum Abby Knight, who currently attends Eastern Illinois University playing volleyball.
“McFail reached out and asked if I would come in to basically give a first-hand account of what it’s like to be a college athlete,” Knight said.
During her visit, Knight spoke with the class about time management, weight lifting, time commitments, balancing academics and athletics, training, and most relevant, the transition the students would go through from high school to college.
“Between being with the team and doing your school work there are a lot of tricks to learn, like doing your homework on the bus when you have away games,” Knight said; she also emphasized how much the team practices in college. “During breaks they give us workouts to do at home, but while we are there we practice in team practices which are about 20 hours a week, which isn’t counting the individual weights and stuff like that.”
Knight’s team even tracks what the athletes eat on the road and during school to make sure they’re staying healthy and fit. Aside from the athletic aspect, Knight also talked about dorm life.
“All the athletes live together and it’s really fun because the volleyball girls will hang out with the basketball girls, and every sport just kinda clicks, because we all understand each other on an athlete perspective,” she said.
Knight spoke about the competitiveness of getting playing time between her teammates: “You just gotta give your personal best, and if it’s not there then it’s not there.”
Knight said practicing and lifting weights with the team gives an athlete a lot of learning experience and time playing even though they might not play in an actual game.
Korbin Scott, a junior at S-C, hopes to attend the University of Central Missouri playing football.
“Abby made me see the bigger picture about how college is and how much time you have to put into your sport,” Scott said.
Knight also gave insight on what she went through to get where she is now, what to look for in college and in the recruiting process, and understanding the system.
“For the most part, teachers and coaches often distort kind of what exactly you do in college so it helps sharing with them real life experiences of a college athlete and what it would be like, because different things get played up more,” Knight said.
Through the eyes of an athlete, Scott recommends the Collegiate Athletic Prep class to any student preparing for college sports.
“ It gives a better perspective of what college is like and what you’re going to have to do to get there,” Scott said.
McFail hopes to have more guest speakers come in, including college coaches. Meanwhile Knight has some words of wisdom for athletes pursuing college.
“Don’t be afraid to approach a coach of a college you’re interested in,” she said. “Most college coaches want players that are interested in them, not just the other way around. It’s a give and take process.”
