Of the 30 scheduled volleyball matches on Mississippi State’s plate this season, 16 of them are not in Starkville.
That means that over half the time spent preparing for games during this season will be spent on the road.
Visiting places as far away as Atlanta, Ga., Gainesville, Fla., Knoxville, Tenn., Lexington, K.Y., and Columbia, S.C., can put a strain on coaches and athletes alike, both physically and mentally. Collegiate athletes and coaches aren’t one-dimensional. They have lives that revolve around things other than sports.
A college athlete’s first responsibility in college is just that-college.
If a player, or any student for that matter, can’t succeed enough academically, other privileges are stripped by the university until grades rise.
It’s hard enough for regular students to keep up satisfactory grades, as well as juggling other aspects of life, but it must be even more difficult for a student-athlete, especially when traveling so much.
“Travel is really exhausting,” junior opposite hitter Jamie Joyner said. “We usually leave on Thursday and don’t get back until Sunday night. That’s a lot of time we have to take out of our school and the academic year.
“We normally make study time on the bus, and we have to be really organized. We just have to make sure we don’t get behind in our classes. It’s really exhausting, but it gets done.”
Junior middle blocker Erin Seago, a marketing major from Rockford, Ill., claims that being an athlete on the road puts a lot more academic responsibility on the student rather than the professor.
“We just have to have a lot of self-control,” Seago. said “We know that we’re missing a lot of hours in the classroom, so we ourselves have to make them up, whether at the hotel, during downtime or on the bus ride.”
Though traveling student-athletes must become self-reliant, Seago said that professors are usually very understanding and easy to work with.
Athletes, coaches and instructors usually negotiate a compromise between athletics and academics so that both sides are satisfied.
“Most professors are pretty lenient on athletes about missing class so much,” Seago said. “At the beginning of the year, we’re required to speak with all our professors to make sure we’ll be ok. If the class seems like it will be too demanding, for example having a lot of projects or reports, then we can make arrangements to make the class feasible.”
Furthermore, all freshmen volleyball players are required to attend study hall sessions during the week. After freshman year, players can attend study hall if they choose to and need it. Extra tutorial help is available to all players if they want it.
Being on the road takes more of a toll than just on players’ academic lives. Not only must players juggle around academics and game plans mentally, but they must find a proper balance of rest and activity while traveling.
“I think the toughest part about being on the road is that it’s so physically demanding,” Seago said. “Whether it’s on a plane or a bus, being on the road for long hours takes its toll on our bodies. Then, we have to get adjusted to playing in different gyms, and as soon as you play Sunday, you’re on the road again. It’s physically draining more than anything else.”
The responsibility falls on head coach Tina Seals to make sure players are getting the right amount of rest and that all other travel arrangements are made and met.
Seals, though, claims that one important aspect of her life is affected when it comes to being away from home.
“On the longer trips,” Seals said, “the biggest toll it takes on me is when it takes away my time with my family. Making sure that my daughter is taken care of and her needs are met are my biggest concerns, from a family standpoint.
“From a team standpoint, just making sure everything’s organized, that we’re getting just the right amount of sleep, making sure the players get study sessions and making sure we have all the meals arranged are the things we have to deal with.”
Playing volleyball in the Southeastern Conference is no walk in the park, especially when the walk is taking place in another team’s park.
The players and coaches agree that conference matches are tougher to play on the road than non-conference matches.
“Florida has been the toughest place to play,” Erin Seago said. “We went there last year for their senior night. Florida has a great volleyball program and a great reputation, and they bring in large crowds. It was pretty overwhelming.”
The road can be a tough thing to overcome, and being the visitors in a match always has its disadvantages.
However, Seago thrives on traveling.
“I like playing on the road more,” says Seago, “because a win on the road is more exciting than a win at home.”