Jock Talk: What it takes to be a successful student athlete

Guest columnist, Brandyn Eckhart

From my experiences, I know what it takes to become a successful student athlete. I may not be a Division 1 athlete, but I know what it takes to get there.

What you must have is passion and commitment.

The sport that you love must motivate you to be the best at everything you do. It must give you that drive to do whatever it takes to get that starting spot or to receive that All-league award, or even simply pushing your team to be the best they can be.

But keep in mind that you always need to stay humble. When someone tells you that you are bad at what you do, don’t take it personally. Think of it as something that will push you to work harder and maybe even prove them wrong.

For example, I was always told that I could never be a quarterback because of my height; I’m 5’9” and the average height of an NFL quarterback is 6’3”. But after a few years of hard work and commitment, I overcame adversity and proved them wrong by becoming a 2nd team all-league quarterback.

Practicing a lot and working hard on the field or the court is not the only thing that you have to do to be a great athlete. The most important of them all is school.

The first word in the title “student-athlete” is “student”. Education is the most important focus because without good grades, you won’t be able to play at that next level.

Studying is probably the one thing that high school students despise the most. Take advantage of the time that you are given to study.

There are so many possibilities that lie before you, and even though you may hate going to school and it’s just something you’re doing until that legal age comes your way, don’t give up. In order to do well on and off the court or field, you must always have a winning state of mind.

Lou Holtz, a famous coaching legend at Notre Dame in the 1980’s and 90’s always said, “Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

Above all else, good attitude is the key.

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