Should high school athletes consider college before university sports?

Some student athletes are saying the transition from high school to college or university sports is not as easy as it looks.

Mercedes Ryan was the captain of the women’s Sault College basketball team last season and described the transition from high school to college sports as “pretty difficult.”

 Now she is continuing her athletic and academic career at Algoma University and says the college definitely prepared her for the next level. Natalie Turner is a soccer player at St. Clair College and Ryan claims the transition from high school to college was quite difficult. 

Turner has been playing soccer since the age of six and is proud of her career so far.  She played well at the high school level and decided to take her talents to St. Clair College. Even though Turner knew that she could hang with the higher competition, she continued to struggle. 

“My transition was very difficult. Mentally and physically I knew I was capable to play at this level but my mental state was not there therefore my physical state was not there yet either,” said Turner. “High school sports did not prepare me for the commitment level to a team both on and off the field and the competitive nature was a big difference as well.”

For Ryan, hitting the court at Sault College was a wake-up call as she realized high school sports did not prepare her for the next level.

“High school ball lacked commitment, players did not show up to every practice and when they did show up we did not give it a 100 per cent effort,” said Ryan.  “Ball was fun in high school, the bond I had with my coach was so friendly but once you go to university or college the coaches treat the relationship more like a business than an actual friendship.”

On the other hand, Ryan felt college prepared her for university level sports both mentally and physically. 

“College taught me how to be more organized and manage my time well but also got my skill set together physically with different drills and constant repetition,” said Ryan. 

In high school Ryan was waking up at 6 a.m. just to get her day started, but once she moved onto college her 6am wake up calls turned into 5 a.m. because she needed to be geared up and ready for basketball practice at 6. According to Ryan, those early morning practices helped her mature both on and off the court, and although she did not like them she was very thankful for them.

“Without my time playing at the college I know the transition from high school straight to university would have been extremely stressful, not impossible, but I’m definitely glad I chose the college route first,” said Ryan.

Although these two women play different sports, their transitions are similar to each other.

If you are a high school student athlete looking to play sports at the university level do not rule out the college level first because it might better prepare your both mentally and physically.