Stephanie Snyder
Staff Writer
Michael Phelps has put himself in the lime light once again but not for another gold medal. For the second time in the last ten years, Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence and this time he is putting his swimming career on hold to seek rehab assistance. He may be the one popping up throughout the media recently, but Phelps isn’t the only athlete facing the law. Reports have come in and out of the public eye for years from football players to baseball and more.
When it comes to college athletes though, you can’t just throw money at your problems and make them go away. Especially on a dry campus like North Central College, there is no tolerance for decisions like driving under the influence, and more relatable to the college life, drinking underage.
College institutions have rules put in place to take control of alcohol related cases. North Central does not have many cases to report but there are those few that have had an impact on a player’s time in the game. For one student, the decision to drink underage took a toll on them during training.
“During my freshman year of college, I made some poor choices and ended up at a couple practices hung-over,” said one anonymous student. “At the time, my freshman self did not care, but reflecting back, I realized how dumb I was behaving. As an athlete, especially in a team sport, you need to be able to give 100 percent physically and mentally, not just for yourself but more importantly your teammates.”
When entering the first years of college, students discover new freedoms they weren’t privy to when they were living at home with family and taking eight hours of classes a day. College students are able to dictate their schedules and ultimately what they do during any down time they may have. For another anonymous student, they found themselves caught in a situation that put their athletic career in jeopardy and they were not the one consuming alcohol. They were an under-age student athlete in the presence of the substance.
“It just takes one night of bad choices and bad luck to get into trouble. For me, it happened on a night that I wasn’t even drinking. I happened to be at a party that got busted and that was enough of a wake-up call for me. A lot of people don’t understand that even if you aren’t getting caught, if you’re out all the time and consuming large amounts of alcohol you’re still hurting your athletic abilities. There is a time and place for enjoying drinks with friends, but it’s not worth it to throw away your sport for one night of partying.”
Although getting caught may not be common, there are cases that do pop up over the years. North Central has policies put in place for the overall campus that the athletic department follows. Athletic Director James Miller and Assistant Director of Athletics Susan Kane, make sure that all departments within the athletics uphold themselves to the standards of the school.
“We follow what the college has put in place,” said Miller. “So if a person is 21 and they are in there room and they are following everything to the letter, then that’s one thing. If we had egregious situations like something like a DUI, then that’s something very serious.”
Miller and Kane recognize that there are mistakes that are going to be made, but if a student athlete makes the decision to put drinking as a priority over their sport, there will be consequences to follow.
“We have had situations that something was out there and egregious,” said Miller. “As we were gathering information, we’ve often times just suspended someone indefinitely. Indefinitely could be a day, a week, the whole year; until we get the facts. There are two sides to every story. Sue and I and others, we value that very much. If we’re unsure and something does come out, and they admitted it saying, ‘I got caught drinking and driving’ or things like that, is it the first time it’s happened? You look at it case by case, but the simplest thing we’ve done is say, ‘Well, you’re going to be suspended indefinitely.’
Not all cases will lead to a suspension if the student is not caught for an alcohol-related situation. Incidences like the anonymous student athlete who showed up to practice hung-over can potentially be punishment in itself. The rules put in place for alcohol use by students is not just a law, there are other factors to consider when deciding to drink illegally or legally. For student athletes, health is important to their performance. This is a point stressed by the athletic department through the use of their sports nutritionist.
“All students are welcome to come talk to the sports nutritionist,” said Kane. “This particular nutritionist does an overview in Wentz concert hall on the Friday of Welcome Week and that’s one of the big things she talks about. She talks about alcohol use, how it will affect your performance and how much you really need to be hydrated. Everything is like a domino effect. We offer it to all the student athletes and open it up to the entire student population, because there are so many different students out there that are training for a variety of different reasons.”
The athletic department stresses the importance of health and decision making for each and every student, whether athlete or not. Miller and Kane say decision making is an important part of the education environment. They also made note that when a student chooses to make decisions involving alcohol or anything for that matter, they are presenting themselves to the public.
“The thing we stress with our coaches, athletes and with each other,” said Miller, “is that your actions, no matter what they may be, they will always have a consequence. You represent your program that you’re on, the athletic department, and the college as an institution, and that’s really important.”
