Final Observation...

For my final observation I interviewed a tennis player on Friday April 16th, she would prefer to remain anonymous. I chose to interview her because I would like to find out more about what takes place as a tennis player since that is my sport of choice. I began by asking some basic questions which led to some in depth concepts.

I asked her when she began playing tennis and if she liked playing tennis in college. She responded by saying she began playing tennis when she was seven years old and could not imagine her life without tennis. She said her schedule would be empty without tennis and she would not know how to fill her time. I asked her if she thought playing a sport and going to school was too much work and she quickly responded, no way! I said, wow you seem to have everything figured out and she said it took her a while but she finally got it down, she just has to do her school work the second she gets time or it will never get done. By procrastinating the work it only makes it harder to complete it. She said she doesn’t want to let down the girls on the team that are also working hard to achieve team goals by not holding up her end of the work. I told her this was some of the best advice I had heard and thanked her for her time. She had to rush off to the gym to get her daily workout in before her last class.

Her sincere motivation and dedication to the team and herself is truly inspiring. I would like to take some of her inspiration and put it towards my goal to become a tennis player next season.

Seventh Observation....

For my seventh observation I decided to find out information about joining a team as a walk on. A walk on is when someone comes to the school and later decides to try out for a sport. I asked Dave, a soccer player I previously interviewed about how he joined the team. Dave played soccer in Sweden and was chosen by a recruiting scout at a tournament in London. He kept in contact with Nova’s coaches and they told him to come try out once he gets his grades higher. Dave went to a school in Orlando for a year and improved his scores. He transferred to Nova and was accepted right away. Dave told me his friend came to the school and decided to try out for the team as a walk on. He had to provide letters of recommendation and a video of his previous career. Once the coaches reviewed his tapes they decided to have him come to a practice with the team to see how they played together and get a close up of his skills. After they observed his practice with the team they made the decision to have him join the team. They worked on all the contracts with the school within a week and his friend was practicing with the team.
It may vary from each sport depending upon the coach. However this seems like a reasonable way to admit someone onto a team.

Sixth Observation...

My fifth observation consisted of observing the home life of three Nova soccer players; they would prefer to remain anonymous. I spent Thursday afternoon just observing the lifestyle of the soccer players and how their lives differ from other students. I will say they kept their apartment cleaner than I expected. The shoes were lined up at the door and the video games were placed neatly on their shelves, however the dirty laundry didn’t seem to make it into hampers. It’s obvious they are health conscious when I opened the refrigerator and only found water, milk, Gatorade, meats and cheese, and some leftovers from dinner the night before.
When I had arrived at their apartment it was about 2:30pm and the boys had just returned from the gym. First they grabbed some drinks and then two of them headed to the couch to play video games. The third roommate had some studying to get done for his test the next day. After about 45 minutes of video games the boys decided it was time to get something to eat and shower because they had an evening class. They finished up their sandwiches and took turns showering before rushing out the door to make it to class by 6 o’clock.
The boys seem to have their lifestyle down to a science and are able to maintain their class schedules and sports schedules with little to no problems. This is their off season which allows them to have the extra free time for video games and just hanging around, but they assured me it does get hectic during the season.

Observation Five...

For my fifth observation I went to the gym in the UC on Thursday afternoon. I chose to go
to the gym again to see if there were any changes from my first visit. This time the gym
didn’t seem as crowded with athletes. I asked around to see why this was, it turns out
there was a baseball game that day. Also, the basketball team has just wrapped up their
season so they don’t have mandatory training. There were still some athletes at the gym
from off season sports that were just working out to stay in shape for their season.
Since the gym was kind of quiet I decided to look at the baseball team’s record. They
had a very busy yet successful week, with games Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and each
game they were able to check off a win! When I saw a few baseball players I congratulated
them on the win and asked them how they were going to celebrate. They all responded by
saying they just wanted some rest. Hopefully, they’ll get the well deserved rest they
need before they continue on to the rest of their season.

Interview Blog

For my interview I chose Brayan a senior on the Nova baseball team. During my interview I asked general questions about baseball and focused on his specific views on time management. I learned that he is has a double major, Buisness and sports managment. He chose this because he loves being involved with sports and would like to always have some interaction with athletics. He is working hard to finish his classes this semester with plans to graduate at the end of this school year. He walked me through a typical day during his season. I have already thought of more questions I could ask him in another interview and I am in contact with him about these questions.

Fourth Observation....

For my fourth observation I conducted a survey of a few randomly selected student athletes. The survey consisted of the following questions: Do you enjoy playing sports at Nova? Do you think going to school and playing sports is too difficult to handle? Has playing sports helped or hurt your grades? In the future do you plan to be involved with playing sports competitively?
The answers varied among the athletes. The majority of the male athletes seemed to be less stressed when talking about their grades and the future, whereas the majority of the females appeared to be a little more stressed. This could be that men generally don’t show their emotions as much as women. Everyone said they enjoy playing sports at Nova, but many said if it wasn’t for the scholarship money they would not be playing. Everyone has had some trouble with maintaining their grades during the season, but a few of the athletes mentioned they receive tutoring to help them. The answers for the last question varied among the respondents, some said they would like to continue professionally while others went as far as not playing after college. There was also a midpoint where most athletes were agreeing they would play but not competitively and they may even be interested in coaching in the future.

Third observation...

For my third observation I met with David W, one of the soccer players for Nova. We met in the University Center during his lunch break on Thursday, to talk about his life as a soccer player. Dave is an international student from Sweden who came here to play soccer and receive a college education. He trains year round to remain healthy and in shape because he is planning to play professional soccer after he leaves the United States after graduation. Dave has played on Nova’s soccer team for four years and is one of their best players. Towards the end of this season Dave injured his ankle and had to make a choice between surgeries to allow him to play again or trying to let it heal on its own, which would be better in the long run. He is so dedicated to soccer that he chose the surgery which will allow him to return to playing sooner. During his recovery he spent extra time on his school work. He chose to make the best of his injury by picking up another class to fill in his spare time. To me this is the definition of a hard working student athlete with goals in mind and his dreams at heart. Dave plans to remain in the U.S until July when his visa expires and he will return to Sweden to fulfill his goals of becoming a professional soccer player. Dave said he choose to come to Nova to receive a college education to always have something to fall back on if he does get injured and cannot continue to play soccer for the rest of his career. This is a smart decision because he already saw how easy it is to get injured and how much work it takes to recover.
I would like to wish David the best of luck for the rest of his time here at Nova and in the future.

Thoughts on my second observation...

What surprised me most about the basketball game was the amount of students present. The students and organizations were incredibly supportive and I wasn’t expecting that at such a small school. I was intrigued by the many organizations that came out to support the basketball team. I was wondering how many of them would have been there if there wasn’t a cash prize for the group they were involved in. I found the opposing team’s fans to be a little disturbing. There were mothers screaming unnecessarily during the game which I had never seen happen. This was not a boring event to attend. There were raffle tickets for sale and many things to observe taking place at all times. Sporting events are generally upbeat and exciting.
This observation was different from my first observation because it was less personal. I was only able to observe the game from a fans perspective but for my last observation I was able to interact with the athletes and ask some questions. To expand on my observation I would like to interview a player to get their perspective on the game and the preparations that took place.

Second Observation

For my second observation I went to the Nova basketball game on Wednesday night at 7 pm. The boys’ basketball team played Florida Southern, the defending champions of the SSC. The event took place at Nova’s home court located in the University Center. Everyone on the team had matching white uniforms and plenty of equipment for the game. Fans came prepared to cheer on their peers; many student organizations came out to support their team and had a chance to win 100 dollars for their group if they had the most team spirit, this helps motivate the basketball team to do well to impress their peers. The basketball team worked very hard to defeat their opponent but unfortunately after a hard fight they lost. The basketball players have to work hard to try to win so they will get a fan base that returns to every game.
Another group of athletes at this game were cheerleaders. They stay the whole game to support and motivate the team. They performed some cheers during timeouts and halftime. The cheerleaders are just as important as the basketball players because they can cause distraction to the other team and support for their own team. They must practice just as hard to make sure they don’t injure themselves during stunts and cheers. Being a cheerleader is just as important as playing the sport.
Overall, the game was a success even though they lost. The fans enjoyed the game and the players are able to see where they went wrong and have the next week of practice to improve for the next game. The players were certainly disappointed but they are focused to beat the next team.

First Observation!

I chose the subculture of being a student athlete at Nova Southeastern University. I spent my observational time at the gym on Nova’s campus. Many athletes along with other students spend time at the fitness center to get into shape or prepare for a season. I’m going to take this time to tell you what I observed while at the gym. Students come to the gym wearing fitness clothes and carrying towels with them, they don’t have to wear a uniform but everyone must be appropriately dressed to workout. The gym is located in the University Center on Nova’s campus. The location is key for athletes who are trying to fit working out into their busy school schedules. Athletes are offered a roped off area to guarantee them the workout time they need each week. The male athletes generally came in pairs to allow them to have someone to spot them while they lifted weights, while the females came in to do more cardio. Everyone seemed to have a specific routine that they stuck to that day. The athletes are given goals to achieve throughout the season and are at the gym to work towards that goal. I stopped to ask a few soccer players about their routines during the off season and they gave me some insight. These soccer players said they still go to the gym weekly to stay in shape for their season and remain motivated to achieve their goals. I asked them if they enjoyed playing a sport while going to school and they responded by saying, it is very difficult sometimes to balance the work but they love the sports they play, so it’s worth the time.
In the future I hope to find out more information on students that play sports in college and how it affects their lives. Are athletes more successful than other students after graduation? How does playing a sport affect grades? What do student athletes have to say about time management?

Welcome!!

Welcome to my subculture blog for Composition 2000. During this semester I will post my observations on the subculture I choose to observe and write about.