Arrive at College Ready to Play

As I write this column, new recruits have finished their first NCAA pre-season practices, and their first collegiate water polo seasons are getting underway. Hopefully each new student-athlete is excited about his or her new schools, teams, and responsibly enjoying new-found independence that comes with living away from home for the first time. How great is it to be welcomed to college by a coach, coaching staff, and teammates?
 
To be ready to play at the next level, student-athletes have to demonstrate maturity and take full responsibility for their training. They have to be self-motivated. After the final high school water polo season ends, rising student-athletes should swim during their final high school swim seasons. They should practice consistently with a water polo club during the off-season and summer preceding college. They should participate in major summer tournaments like JO Qualifiers, JOs, and other major regional or national competitive opportunities. They should also continue engaging in healthy lifestyles and habits. Doing so will enable them to stay in prime water polo shape and arrive on campus for preseason training ready to do all they can to contribute to their college teams. It's also the best way to avoid the price of reporting to pre-season practice out of shape, unprepared, and enduring the pain and struggle through double days of preseason practices—and possibly even getting cut. 
 
Coaches, coaching staffs, and future teammates are great resources who are eager to introduce the newest members of their teams to their schools. All can offer tips on where to get the best pizza, sandwiches, local treats, and other necessities of life. They can offer advice on majors, professors, and course selections. They can help new teammates learn to balance the rigors of practice and competing with attending lectures and labs, writing papers, and taking exams. They are great resources who can significantly ease the transition from high school to college, and make the team a family away from home.
 
Reporting for preseason practice ready to compete at the next level not only demonstrates but also is a major component of college readiness. It's important for rising student-athletes to avoid the temptation of slacking off and succumbing to "senioritis" by taking post-graduation trips or other prolonged vacations with friends instead of following a rigorous training program or participating in tournaments—they should continue being there for their teams. It's also an opportunity for them to "give back" by setting a good example and helping pave the way for younger high school and club teammates aspiring to join the same team at the same schools.
 
Parents also can play an important role in ensuring their sons and daughters are ready to take their next steps. During the final months with their student-athletes at home, they can encourage their sons and daughters to act responsibly and support their continued training and participation in competition. To do anything less would undermine not only all those hours of training in the pool and weight room where their sons or daughters strove to become elite water polo players, but their paths to becoming responsible young adults as well.
      
Questions? Write to Angela Kraus at angela@shootingforcollege.info. Angela Kraus is an experienced and certified college counselor providing comprehensive college counseling services to help students prepare for and ensure eligibility for graduation from high school and admission to colleges. A special focus of her practice is advising high school athletes as they pursue the athletic recruiting process, with emphasis on water polo players.