College adjustments

[rider21]

Am I allowed to start a new thread? Spank me if not and move this to the appropriate area.

I am interested in hearing stories about girls' adjustments to college life as hockey players. Are there any tips? Are smaller or larger schools easier for adjustment?

Do some girls find the level of play too high? Or too low? Are transfers an issue if they are unhappy? How about adding academics into the mix?

[oldfan]

Am I allowed to start a new thread? Spank me if not and move this to the appropriate area.

I am interested in hearing stories about girls' adjustments to college life as hockey players. Are there any tips? Are smaller or larger schools easier for adjustment?

Do some girls find the level of play too high? Or too low? Are transfers an issue if they are unhappy? How about adding academics into the mix?

Watching very closely how it works at the Univ Mn , as the new freshman come in I am impressed with how well the team ( capts, coaches) get the girls in a rountine. The girls seem to be too busy to be too homesick, and are really in good shape to handle school, laundry, food, etc and hockey! This by the way is a big school, and a big campus.

[hockeyyfan]

Do some girls find the level of play too high? Or too low? Are transfers an issue if they are unhappy? How about adding academics into the mix?

The kids that I know who are the most successful start with focusing on academics and getting their time organized and carving time out for working out a bit every day the first month of school THEN throw hockey into the mix so they are ready when the time demands hit them like a ton of bricks.....LOL

The ones I've known where the transition hasn't been smooth worked on social life, then hockey and if they could squeeze a little education in they did......makes for a very loooooooong second semester catching up or watching from the stands.

[Black Bear]

The kids that I know who are the most successful start with focusing on academics and getting their time organized and carving time out for working out a bit every day the first month of school THEN throw hockey into the mix so they are ready when the time demands hit them like a ton of bricks.....LOL

The ones I've known where the transition hasn't been smooth worked on social life, then hockey and if they could squeeze a little education in they did......makes for a very loooooooong second semester catching up or watching from the stands.

I think you are right on the money with academic focus and organization being keys. That's one of the reasons why coaches spend so much time watching prep school games, boys and girls. You take a boy or girl who has spent four years in prep school and you can be pretty sure that they've learned to adjust to doing things on their own and getting organized to handle a heavy course load and a sports commitment all year. Not to say that prep is neccessarily the best way to go, lots of success stories reached by different paths, but it certainly helps to be able to show clearly an ability to get by on your own without Mom and Dad hanging over your shoulder. The anxiety and insecurity of being away from home and on your own is generally long gone in the rearview mirror, giving a player a better chance at focusing on their game.

[videohockey]

My daughter has dealt with class scheduling conflicts, a non-hockey roomate, adjustments to routines (ie: daily workouts with the ROTC drill seargent, plus daily ice) and now a minor injury.

However she was allowed to arrive and check-in 10 days before classes started, the hockey teamates have been a GREAT support sysytem, the coach has helped with the academic politics, she does like her roomate, she loves MOST of her classes and she has been asked to join a sorority (but can postpone the pledging until spring).

You take the good with the bad, and make the most of it!