(Editor’s note – The author is a student athlete herself and one of the sources for this story is her father).

Student athletes get some perks on a college campus, but it’s also a lot of work. They spend countless hours in the classroom earning good grades and on the field or the court working to earn a starting position. It can be grueling.

“The amount of time you have to put in … it’s just a process that you have to get used to.” said Riley Carter, a fifth-year senior who plays on Mercer University’s Woman Lacrosse team. She’s on the lacrosse team with me. Carter says the time spent in the classroom and on the field is a struggle for some.

“But if you love it and you can do it, it’s really not that bad,” she added. Lacrosse practice provides structure for Carter; the coaches and faculty meticulously manage time.

Carter is worried, however, about what life will be like once that structure is gone. There is no such thing as professional women’s lacrosse. She’ll have to find a new career and focus after graduation.

“It’s just me, myself and I out there in the real world,” she said.

Mercer University in Macon has seen its athletics program grow significantly over the past five years. The college has four new teams, including a new football program, and has gained national attention in sports like basketball.

How student athletes transition from their playing days after graduation is something that concerns Mercer’s Director of Student-Athlete Support Services, Sam Lee. Lee has first-hand knowledge about the difficulties, having played on the golf team at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.

“The biggest thing for me was, just finding something to fill my time with,” said Lee, who graduated from Union in 2009. “I still enjoyed the game, I still wanted to play and just overcoming the reality that my collegiate career is over.”

It’s an especially thorny issue for middle-tier college athletic programs at places like Union and Mercer, where students play seriously, but send few, if any, athletes to the professional ranks. Even so, added Lee, being a student athlete can prepare you for a range of careers.

“You talk about competition, you talk about sportsmanship, you talk about time management,” he said, adding these are all traits that are attractive to prospective employers.

But the fact remains, most college athletes will have to grow beyond athletics. According to a study done by the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, less than 2% of all NCAA football players go on to the NFL. And even those that do go pro have to go back to the real world at some point.

“Being an athlete, everything is set for you.” said Siupeli Malamala, an offensive lineman for the University of Washington, where he helped the team to Rose Bowl championships in 1990 and 1991. He attended a big school that was winning at the time, and that meant his life was basically planned for him. That continued when he left school and began an NFL career. Malamala was a third round draft pick who played for the New York Jets.

“Once that professional level is over … you have to figure out how to deal with life,” he said.

As the Mercer program continues to grow its athletic program, more and more students are going to have to figure out that transition for themselves.

Tags: sports, College sports, athletics, college students