If you have ever played a sport in high school, you probably know there is a wide range of athletes with different abilities across multiple sports. College is almost the opposite: a select group of athletes competing at a high level. Training is more intense, and your teammates become your best friends.
I interviewed Adelaide Loeser, my sister, who graduated from Eisenhower last year and is now swimming at Seattle University, a Division I college. She said the difference between high school and college training is that college training is higher volume: you train more, with a schedule for which days you train certain strokes, race, and do weights. The training is also more personalized, meaning different groups split with the corresponding coaches. For example, distance swimmers go with one coach, while sprinters go with the other. I asked her whether her sport is more difficult in college than in high school; she replied, “Physically yes, but it’s easier to focus because it’s just school and swim.” The competition is harder because everyone there qualified for the same standards in college athletics; you’re also practicing with high-level athletes like yourself, so there is no doubt you will improve. She has become close with her teammates and says that they make competing better for her because she doesn’t get as nervous about racing when she is with them. She told me there are “great people in both, and I value both groups of people (High school team and College team)”.
I called Zabella Hickenbottom, who graduated from Eisenhower last year and is now going to Queen’s University in North Carolina (also a Division I school), and asked her about the difference between college softball and high school softball. She explained to me that in high school you use your own time to work and get better at your sport; you aren’t really being held accountable for training. On the other hand, in college you are being held accountable for all your training and do extra on your own. Like Adelaide, she said college has better competition. I asked what her schedule looks like; she said, “It revolves around softball… my classes revolve around softball because softball is the priority”. She walked me through her schedule, which was very packed. She had sprint training, weights, and softball practice all in one day, and classes in between each session. When I asked her if softball at Queens is more difficult, she replied, “Yes, it’s more difficult because I’m held to a much higher standard”. She thinks of her teammates as family and her coaches like parents; even though she says it’s forced proximity, she still enjoys them all.
College athletics are more difficult, but they also help you make friends. It’s physically exhausting, and you have a full schedule. However, there’s no doubt you will improve and have fun with your team. While it’s more intense and focused than high school, the fun and independence are worth it.
