Like some exclusive club, athletes walk around Grounds with their Virginia gear, talk to teammates about practice and manage to dodge midterms because of some conflict. As an outsider looking in, it is easy to wonder what it’s like to live the life of a Cavalier competitor. It is a lifestyle that can be easily conceived based on what non-athletes see and hear around Grounds: blue and orange sweatsuits, rumors about luxury accommodations, tutors that do the athletes’ work for them.
But for every myth there is a reality. And for every free sweatsuit, there are 6 a.m. suicides.
To help set the record straight, Mark Wade, a redshirt junior goalkeeper for the men’s lacrosse team, has responded to a list of some of the most prevalent myths about Virginia student-athletes. Wade, who has been with the team for four years, has accumulated a list of experiences as a student-athlete that can give misinformed spectators a more clear picture on the life of a student-athlete.
Myth: Athletes have personal tutors to help them with their classes. These tutors not only help the athletes with their work, but they also write their papers and do their assignments for them.
Wade: While it is true there are tutors in place to assist us student-athletes with our assignments and proofread our papers, it is absolutely false that “they do our work for us.” In most circumstances, student-athletes cannot attend the office hours due to afternoon obligations to practice, workouts, film sessions and injury rehabilitation. The tutors are available in the evenings for student-athletes to approach with questions.
Myth: Athletes travel in the nicest buses and sleep in the most luxurious hotels. They eat and sleep in the lap of luxury while on the road.
Wade: No team is going to stay in the Waldorf-Astoria or Plaza Hotel when they travel, but we do sleep in nicer hotels. Typically, the hotel of choice for the men’s lacrosse team is the Sheraton. Nice hotels with comfortable rooms — everybody has a roommate — and a decent breakfast bar is standard. Rest and nutrition are two of the most important parts of an athlete’s lifestyle and must be taken into consideration when teams travel away from Charlottesville.
Myth: Professors are lenient with deadlines for student-athletes. Whether it be a midterm or paper, athletes use the fact that they have a significant extracurricular time commitment to get out of deadlines ... and professors allow it.
Wade: Scheduling conflicts are bound to surface when you have two competing forces in your life. Teams will be traveling at the end of a week when a paper may be due or test scheduled, and an extension will be warranted. At the beginning of each semester, student-athletes are given letters to pass onto their professors in regards to their travel days and when they will be absent. Student-athletes are expected to give these letters to their professors in the beginning of the semester so professors know about conflicts far in advance. Injuries are another issue that arises in regard to this question. There are some instances where serious injuries — like concussions — can preclude a player from keeping pace with his or her schoolwork.
Myth: Athletes have access to state-of-the-art workout facilities. The equipment is top-notch, the locker rooms are furnished with hot tubs and the players are given around-the-clock treatment to rehabiltate injuries.
Wade: Let me be the first to say that the training staff, strength coaches and the equipment at the University Hall weight rooms are top-of-the-line. We are very well taken care of. With that being said, it is not a question of student-athletes having nicer equipment than what is available at the AFC, Slaughter Gym or North Grounds, but rather different equipment. The average person in the free weights room at the AFC doing concentration bicep curls is probably not going to have much interest in having a platform for front squatting and power cleaning. Student-athletes train their bodies in different ways — for functional strength, not just to build muscle.
Myth: Athletes are continually given the nicest clothing and athletic apparel for free. Throughout the year, players can be seen walking around Grounds with a new sweatsuit, warm-up jacket or Virginia shorts. From Virginia polo shirts to team shoes or cleats, athletes are furnished with some of the nicest apparel ... for free.
Wade: As a fourth-year student-athlete, I have a closet full of shirts, shorts, sweats and shoes that I have used at some point in time over my four years at Virginia. We do get all kinds of athletic gear without paying for it — but I would argue that it does not come without an expectation or a cost. Coaches are always quick to remind the players that “its not about the gear.” Next time you wish you had a nice sweatsuit or insulated mock turtleneck for free, ask yourself if you would be willing to run 80 yard sprints in nine degree weather early on a Saturday morning in exchange. (That is in fact a specific reference to something the men’s lacrosse team did on a Saturday in January.)
Myth: Athletes are given spending money on their road trips. Per diem is handed to them without much concern for what it is spent on ... In a way, they are getting paid while away from Charlottesville.
Wade: The NCAA allowance for student-athletes when they travel is $10 for every meal. Each team approaches this issue differently, though. Some teams will give the money to players as cash and let them choose what they want to eat. Other teams will not give the money directly to players but rather use it collectively to put together a nice meal at the hotel at which they are staying or at a local restaurant. Don’t kid yourselves though, we aren’t handed C-notes for weekend trips that we can blow at places like Aberdeen Barn or the Downtown Grille.
Myth: It seems like a number of athletes declare sociology or anthropology majors. Cedric Peerman? Sociology major. Sean Singletary? Anthropology major. Chris Long? Sociology major. Eugene Monroe? Sociology major. The list goes on ...
Wade: While there are a fairly large amount of student athletes in the sociology and anthropology departments, it is by no means an all-inclusive group. Many student-athletes pursue interests in the history department, the politics department and the Commerce School. The Education School is also a popular choice. Because it is a five-year program, many student-athletes take advantage of that opportunity if they choose to redshirt one of their years. Personally, I am a foreign affairs major concentrating in the Middle East and pursuing admission to the MS in Commerce program next year.
And so you can see that each misconception has a corresponding truth. In some cases, the two are pretty close. In other instances, though, they couldn’t be more different. As a non-athlete, it’s easy to jump to conclusions about athletes being handed food on a silver platter. But for every free jacket, there is a sacrifice. For every dollar per diem, there is the responsibility to get the notes for any class you might miss.
And for every Virginia competitor, there remains a non-athlete with a skewed perception of the benefits athletes receive for the sacrifices they endure.
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