What to Expect as a University Student-Athlete in Toronto

Starting university is a naturally stressful period for many people. Between more schoolwork, having to make new friends, planning commutes to/from school, or even having to move away, there are many new things incoming students must prepare for. For those who also join one of their school’s sports teams, that list only increases. Increased practice schedules, tougher competition, having to ‘fit in’ with the team, and the constant pressure to succeed in academics and athletics become extra hurdles student-athletes must handle and adjust to along with normal university life.

As a student-athlete myself who just finished their first year on Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) baseball team, I am going to give you a breakdown of what to expect when making the leap to university sports in Toronto to help you prepare for your first year. I’ll also have comments from other TMU athletes to allow you to see different perspectives of this experience and get a fuller picture. You’ll see that this new beginning is not something to stress about but rather look forward to.

Joining the Team

There are two main ways for you to join a university sports team: getting recruited by a coach or attending open tryouts as a ‘walk on.’ I did the latter. For baseball, these took place during orientation week and honestly, the experience was nerve-wracking. As tryouts go on, some players get told they’re on the team, others get cut, and some others, like me, get invited back to keep trying out – not on the team, but not yet off it either. After the last tryout, I was told I had made the team. Let me tell you, that feeling of your hard work paying off is unmatched.

There was an exhibition game and a team meeting later that week to wrap up the pre-season procedures before school started. We then had a team get-together after the meeting, allowing the new guys to get to know the team properly in a casual environment. Before the season had even started, the team already had a good bond to it, quickly relieving stresses about not fitting into the team culture.

Reese, who plays on TMU women’s basketball team, had a different experience. She first met her coach at a camp in grade 9, then played for that same coach on Team Ontario in grade 11, which made her recruiting process easy. After TMU reached out, she visited the school and committed shortly after.

Jamie, who plays on the TMU men’s soccer team, was also recruited onto the team through showcases and camps during the previous year that allowed coaches to see his talent. From his end, he also made sure TMU was a fit athletically and academically before committing to the program. He too found his team to be very welcoming, regardless of whether or not players were recruited or walk-ons. As he put it, “recruitment status might affect first impressions, but earning respect comes from showing up every day, working hard, and being a good teammate” – a valuable lesson for any hopeful athletes.

Starting the Season

Depending on your sport, the start of the season and length of it varies. For outdoor sports, you start off right away with a shorter season. Indoor sports usually ramp up to the start of the season but play for almost the entire school year. For baseball, from the first week of school until first semester’s reading week, it was two practices a week, three during playoff week, and four games over the weekend – two on both Saturday and Sunday. Aarwin, whose track and field program runs for both semesters, had a similar schedule: three practices a week, plus strength and conditioning to complete on his own time. Reese explained that women’s basketball did 5 practices and 3 team lifts during preseason, and then their schedule adjusted depending on their games during the season.

If you aren’t coming from an already rigorous sports program, that sort of immediate jump can catch you off guard. For example, two weeks into the school year, we played in Sudbury on Saturday, then London on Sunday, and it was right back to school on Monday. Jamie noted that not only did the actual games, practices, and travel take up more time, but also the recovery that comes with doing so much in a short time span. Rest, proper nutrition, and generally keeping your body healthy play a huge role in getting you through your season, especially when it’s so condensed.

In that first month, the people I grew closest with were my teammates. Being with them so often so quickly allows you to get very close in a way you can’t with your classmates that you see once a week in class. The start of the season is the start of your collective effort for a championship, and that common goal creates a bond throughout the team.

Balancing Schoolwork

With less free time, it’s important to stay on top of your schoolwork and use your time wisely, or this schedule will catch up with you. Try to find a routine that helps you do this and stick to it. For Jamie, that was using a planner to keep track of practices, games, and travel days to know when he had time for schoolwork. He even studied when in transit to away games, which can often take multiple hours. For me, I liked doing work on my commute to and from school. Using blocks like those to complete your work allows you to enjoy more of your diminished free time instead of using that on schoolwork as well. Reese built a support group of her fellow rookie teammates, older players, and an academic mentor to help her build and maintain a rhythm that worked well for her. Aarwin said that you sometimes have weeks where your only time to do work is late at night after your sport, so you have to be able to stay up late to grind out projects if needed. However, with the right routine and time management strategies, those should be few and far between.

Furthermore, on your first day of class, inform your professors you are on a sports team and let them know that might interfere with exams or projects. If you know specific dates you will have to miss, tell them, ideally in person and with a follow-up email so they won’t forget. Additionally, inform your coaches of any conflicts with your exam and sport schedules so that they can confirm absences or rescheduling with your professors. Aarwin happened to have track and field events that directly collided with second-semester midterms, and because he had informed his professors, he was able to work around that issue with them. Reese reminds incoming athletes to not be afraid to ask for help when they need it – “you don’t know if you don’t ask.” Your coaches and professors want you to succeed, so it’s important you communicate well with both of them so they can help you however possible.

The Competition

University competition is immediately a step up from whatever you are used to – only the best of your previous playing level make it here. Additionally, you will face older players with more years of experience at this level of competition. The biggest thing to remember when starting off at this level is that adjustment and failure are normal. There’s a reason that star rookies are seen as very sensational, and it’s because they are a rare form of player. If you can immediately excel, I commend you, but most rookies will face a learning curve. What matters is continuously looking for opportunities to improve and finding takeaways in every practice and game that will help you do so. Remember also that as the season passes, you will no longer be an inexperienced rookie, so give yourself time to figure out this new league, and the competition will eventually get easier.

The Offseason

Depending on when your season comes to a close, your involvement with your team in the offseason will vary. TMU baseball gave the rest of first semester off to focus on school and held practices once a week during the second semester to stay in form, before players went off to their summer teams at semester’s end. Soccer did additional workouts during the week at TMU’s athlete-only gym. For longer season programs like basketball, you get a midseason break during the end of first semester to focus on exams, then you go into the actual offseason at season’s end in second semester. During these periods, your student life becomes much more normal. You have more time to do projects and study, you can schedule your job more easily if you have one, planning hangouts with friends becomes easier, etc. For a short season like baseball, I felt this allowed the season’s toll to be easier when put in perspective. Even during a tough week of practice, games, and projects, I knew I would only be in that situation for 6 weeks out of the entire school year. This allowed me to better appreciate the limited time I had to enjoy the season, knowing it will all get easier very soon. Reese felt that, on the other hand, having her basketball season take up both semesters allowed it to feel more spaced out and easier to manage. Once she got into her routine, there was a sense of normalcy with it that maintained throughout the year.

Final Thoughts

The jump to university sports is an adjustment on many fronts. Joining the team is a process. Your schedule during the season will leave you with less free time, meaning you’ll need extra initiative to stay on top of schoolwork, all while adjusting to tougher competition and a new team culture. Hopefully I’ve now given you some insight into what to expect so you are better prepared for your first season.

One final note to remember, joining a sports team is a commitment. You are going to have to miss certain things to make that commitment work. For example, I had to miss homecoming, parties, and other events I was looking forward to because I had practice or games. If you are truly passionate about your sport, those are sacrifices worth making. Jamie put it simply, “university athletics require commitment, discipline, and sacrifice, but they also provide incredible opportunities to grow as an athlete, student, and person.” If you are on the fence about trying out for a team, I implore you to give it a shot as the experience is so enjoyable that it more than makes up for all the effort it takes. According to Aarwin, if you set a mentality to succeed on day one, everything becomes easier to handle because “mentality is the greatest lifter.”

Good luck and have a great season athletes!