By Amanda Rawson
Contributions by Brian Davidson
Conventional wisdom from sports fans across the country assumes that the college athletes with the most burden to maintain the student/athlete balance are Division I football players. A new study released by the NCAA shows that golf consumes almost as much time at the so-called revenue sports.
Men's golfers spent an average of 40.8 hours per week in training. Football players in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) said they spent an average of 44.8 hours a week on their sport — playing games, practicing and working in the training room — compared with under 40 hours on academics.
Some officials expressed concern with the findings, released Saturday during the association's annual convention.
"Once you get past 40 hours," NCAA Myles Brand agreed, "you're really pushing it, I think." Brand added, however, "These young people are very competitive. It's in their fiber. ..and they will do everything they can to succeed.
"That's understandable, but we still have to help them understand that they need an education and (to) balance their lives."
The survey, Brand says, does not address the degree to which coaches' implied demands drive up after-practice hours. Nearly one in four baseball and men's basketball players and one in five football players said they'd put in more time if they could, the findings show.
"If the data shows there's problems, we need to find ways to not necessarily regulate it but address it one way or the other. If [athletes] choose to say the two things I want to do in college is get a good education and participate in athletics, rather than hang out and eat some pizza and drink beer, you know, that's up to them. I'm concerned about whether it's a balanced life they're having."
Some 21,000 athletes at 627 Division I, II and III institutions - including more than 1,600 football and 417 men's basketball players - participated in the survey. In the top-tier Division I programs almost two of every three athletes said they consider themselves more as athletes than students.
Georgia Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich said it would be a mistake to try to keep athletes from devoting themselves to their sports. "It's real hard to legislate people's drive and determination," Radakovich said.
sources: http://www.usatoday.com
http://www.ajc.com
