top of page
Search

Moving On and Moving Up

thehawkeyenhs

Tommy Shaker, Staff Writer

According to Dictionary.com college athletics is defined as “a term encompassing the non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competition performance.” College athletics is a big jump from high school athletics or “prep sports” in intensity, rigor and dedication. Whether it’s soccer, football, or volleyball, athletes are in for a challenge and a test in your resolve and dedication.

Newtown High School has developed many of these student athletes over the years and some of them have been very successful in the college environment and even higher.

Stephen Conway a three-sport athlete and Newtown 2013 graduate, plays soccer at Stonehill College in Massachusetts,

“The difference is huge. Playing in college is another animal. I remember my freshmen year when I came in I was lost. At the collegiate level kids are bigger, stronger and faster. Simple drills turn into a tiring workout because the game just moves so much faster.”

Conway was a three year varsity soccer player here at Newtown and made all- state for varsity baseball his senior year. He was recruited for soccer at Stonehill (D2) and is attempting to walk-on for the baseball team this year.

Although these sports seem to make life a lot tougher at the same time they also make it easier. Whether it is an immediate bond with a group of friends or something you can do to de-stress yourself sports just isn’t a big burden that you have to overcome.

Zoey Eggleston is another college athlete that Newtown has produced and now swims for Worcester Polytechnic Institutes. “Here at WPI adapting to the training was crazy hard. It's so much more difficult that high school. But I feel myself getting better and the reward of a faster time (swimming) is completely worth the pain in the pool. Also adapting to the team was really easy; the team is my giant family. I've made life time friends and they are seriously the amazing and I’m happy to be here training with them every day,” said Eggleston now a sophomore at WPI. Eggleston adds, “As a Division 3 School there isn’t too much pressure because our coach understands school and academics comes first. But it is hard balancing social activities, sports, and academics as sometimes you can’t do things you wish you could.” At Newtown, Eggleston was a three sport varsity athlete (swimming, indoor and outdoor track) and went to State Opens in each sport.

Newtown has been a very successful athletic school with multiple conference and state titles in the past and have produced multiple athletes whom have been successful too. For instance, last year’s soccer captain Matthew Mossbarger is now playing soccer for the University of Delaware.

“Aside from the level of play, I'd say the biggest difference is the commitment. It's necessary to manage time well in order to balance the daily practices and schoolwork. The schedule doesn't give you much free time to go out or simply relax, but if you love the sport you're playing enough, it's worth the hard work,” Mossbarger said.

“You get looked at different when you are a college athlete, the college as a whole expects more of you to be a role model and so do coaches,” Conway said,“College isn't like high school where it's something you kind of do on the side. Your life is school work and sports, that's really it - you don't have time for anything else.”

Above all, in college sports you need to be dedicated and willing to sacrifice some of the “fun” of college for the hard work needed to succeed as a student athlete.

It takes a lot to be successful at the collegiate level with high standard and expectations for all athletes no matter what school or division. As well as having to make that big athletic jump there are also academic steps as well. As student-athletes (notice the student comes first), school is always first priority and adds to the responsibility of being an athlete. There are many academic standards you have to make, in order to be eligible to play and then you must be able to hold them while you play or you may become academically ineligible as you would in high school.

However, it seems as though Newtown is producing student-athletes with the right mentality and the ability to succeed at a high level especially with an estimated 50-80 former students playing collegiate sports this year.

Photo Credit; fmupatriots.com

 
 
 
bottom of page