{"id":465,"date":"2011-02-25T00:10:59","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T05:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=465"},"modified":"2011-12-13T08:12:24","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T13:12:24","slug":"the-total-package-sports-and-academics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\/","title":{"rendered":"Weighing sports and academics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Junior Lindsey Lee\u00a0has already verbally committed to play soccer at Western Michigan University. <\/strong>Photo courtesy Cindy Lee<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By Scott Kendall
\n<\/strong>managing sports<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When asked if he thought that he would be playing college athletics in college, during his freshman year in high school, senior Eric Schwenk didn\u2019t think he had much of a chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always a dream,\u201d he said. \u201cEven last year if I was asked if I thought I\u2019d be playing college athletics, I\u2019d say no. I didn\u2019t think people would be interested in me. But when schools showed interest, it changed what I thought about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing a 2010 all-state season, Schwenk was able to narrow his college search to a few select schools through looking at where his football career would best be suited to continue. Schwenk narrowed his choices to Ferris State, Saginaw Valley State, Michigan Tech and others. He eventually chose Michigan Tech after visiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichigan Tech called me once a week, while everybody else emailed a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I visited Michigan Tech, it was my first scheduled visit so I thought I\u2019d use that as a run through, but I ended up really enjoying it. It really seemed like a family. It wasn\u2019t a lot of individuals, everybody was really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

For junior Lindsey Lee, the situation was very similar. She narrowed her choices down to a couple of schools before choosing Western Michigan. Lee explained that her visit, like Schwenk\u2019s, was a huge tipping point in her choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy travel coach told me that Western had called him and that they wanted to talk to me,\u201d she explained. \u201cThen I called them and set up a visit and made my visit. Right after I visited I got an offer, but didn\u2019t think it was the right fit for me. Two days later, I visited Miami of Ohio and it was the complete opposite. At that point, I knew that I wanted to go to Western.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to get the ball rolling, Schwenk says he had a lot of help from his parents in various ways, including making a highlight reel tape to send to various collegiate coaches. However, the pressure from his parents to choose a certain school was nonexistent according to Schwenk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could tell what [my parents] were leaning towards,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there wasn\u2019t any pressure from them to choose a certain school over another.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lee, her parents just had one wish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just wanted me to be happy and to make the right choice,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt more pressure from myself than anything because I wanted to make the right choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Riepma, a senior athlete, had an interesting situation. His father, Pat Riepma, was once the local Northwood Timberwolves head football coach, giving Jake reason to choose the school as his future. Yet Jake pushed the same principles as Lee\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents were both very supportive,\u201d Riepma said. \u201cThey both really stressed figuring it out for yourself and looking at all aspects of a college.\u201d<\/p>\n

The change from high school to college athletics will be unexpectedly large. Games will be longer. Players will be faster and bigger. To prepare for the jump, both Schwenk and Lee plan on training a large amount over the summer before their freshman year of college.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Michigan Tech] will send me a workout, letting me know what to start to do to prepare for the season,\u201d Schwenk said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to learning more about the game and getting in better shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with summer workouts, Schwenk will be starting his college life earlier than most, as he must arrive early for \u201ctwo-a-day\u201d practices to get ready for the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll miss my friends, but leaving early will be better for me in the long run as I\u2019ll be able to find all my classes and check out the campus before everybody else arrives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the larger college life, some students have a problem finding their place or group that they best fit in. Schwenk says knowing people right away at college will make the transition process easier and let him focus on his academics as long as his athletics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be nice in the beginning to have 35 to 40 incoming freshman with you and having them all go through the same things as you are,\u201d Schwenk said. \u201cThe coaches really focus on academics. They make you go to a study hall five times a week and you have to check in each week with your grades. We get to go earlier than other freshman and schedule our classes first, that way the older players let us know what players are good and which ones aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Riepma, he\u2019s just looking forward to going through the challenge with another group of guys, a \u201cfamily\u201d as he called it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know at NU the football guys hang out together and stick together,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be a challenge, but I\u2019m looking forward to becoming the best football player I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recruiting helps high school athletes with their collegiate choices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[41,44,42],"class_list":["post-465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3feature","category-3-sports","tag-feature-stories","tag-sports-stories","tag-student-activities-dow-high"],"yoast_head":"\nWeighing sports and academics - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weighing sports and academics - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recruiting helps high school athletes with their collegiate choices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-25T05:10:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-13T13:12:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Lindsey.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Update\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\"},\"headline\":\"Weighing sports and academics\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-25T05:10:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-13T13:12:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":858,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/03\\\/Lindsey.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Feature Stories\",\"Sports Stories\",\"Student Activities Dow High\"],\"articleSection\":[\"FEATURE\",\"SPORTS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/the-total-package-sports-and-academics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Weighing sports and academics - 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