Play baseball in college.
In my four decades as a college professor, I have created greater bonds with athletes than I have with my students in class.
I am a former athlete and coach, but professionally, I am a teacher and professor at an elite private university. I have been involved with several teams doing everything from being an official faculty mentor, to unofficially working and traveling with the players and coaches. Primarily, I have worked very closely with the baseball team for over 15 years.
I am grateful for these experiences as we spend a great deal of time together, individually and as a group. These players and teams have enriched my life.
There is an ongoing discussion about whether college sports are beneficial to students in their lives. From my experience, I can tell you that the answer is a resounding YES. Here are several reasons that sports are so integral for the learning experience of athletes.
1. Sports are fun
Sports are a form of recreation that can benefit you in every possible way, psychologically and physically. If they can experience that sort of recreation in a structured way, it’s all the better.
2. Friendships
There are few activities in college that create the kind of bonds that occur on sports teams. People remember very few of their classmates, but they remember all of their teammates. Competing together for a common goal creates the kind of bonds that last a lifetime. There are few greater social experiences.
3. Skills
I believe coaches are every bit as much educators as professors in the classroom. For people that have some sort of future in sports, even if it’s coaching their children in Little League, the skills they will learn playing sports will serve them in very important ways throughout their lives. Of course, if they are looking for some sort of career in sports, whether it’s playing or coaching, such skills are absolutely crucial.
4. Be a Better Student
Athletes have told me that they actually do better academically during the season than during the off-season. The logic is simple: In season, they have more structured time because they have to play and go to practice. Structured time leads to better study habits and better academic performance. In the off-season, their time is unstructured which works against academic performance. Of course, athletes could very well structure their time in the off-season, but having a sports commitment forces you to structure your time. Moreover, each team functions as an emotional support group which is essential for students, especially when they struggle for academic or personal reasons.
5. Get a Job
I have been teaching business courses for quite a while. Recruiters from the business world, and even the organizational world, value athletes as future employees. Athletes possess essential business skills: they are tough, they follow instructions, they work well in teams. If parents think job prospects will be more limited because of playing sports, they are dead wrong. In fact, job prospects are greater if for those who take part in sports, assuming they take their studies seriously.
6. The Illusion of Trade-offs
People believe that there is a zero-sum relationship between studying and playing sports: If you do one, you cannot do the other. They are dead wrong. There are enough hours in the day to excel as an athlete and excel as a student. No one studies all day long, and rather than sitting on the couch or playing video games, they can take part in some sort of athletic activity. I have been teaching at schools whose philosophy is that athletes can also be scholars: the Scholar-Athlete Model. Many of the athletes that I’ve been associated with have gone on to splendid careers in all walks of life.
So for those wondering about the value of playing baseball in college, if a player has the skills to play, they should not think twice: Do it.
Giulio Gallarotti was the Faculty Advisor to the Wesleyan baseball team for 16 years. His presence with the team year-round, including on its annual spring trip to Arizona, was a key component of the integration of academics and athletics for the student-athletes.
He is a Professor of Government at Wesleyan University and Columbia University. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Rome, and has published numerous books and articles.
Giulio received his B.A. from Hunter College, and his PhD from Columbia University. A standout intercollegiate tennis player, he played tournament tennis in the northeastern United States.
