Spring Break
Shaking off the stress
Athletes manage college pressure
Adam Bohlmeyer
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: Sports
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Between a highly publicized competition for a starting spot on the CSU football team, fighting a nagging injury, dealing with a move to a new town and trying to get a college education in his spare time, Eastman has a lot on his mind at the moment.
While the average college student may have difficulty coping with the pressures of college life, athletes appear to have it a little tougher some of the time.
Not only do they have the pressure of college academic expectations, but added pressure to perform for coaches and fans. All these stresses can easily begin to take a toll.
Eastman, a former starting quarterback for Snow Junior College in Utah transferred to CSU for the spring semester to try to fill the vacant quarterback position. Now at the end of the spring season, the junior admitted the past few weeks have been mentally taxing on him.
"Coming in, I knew this spring was going to be one of the hardest times for me because it is just so much learning," Eastman said. "If I can stick it out I know things are going to be cool."
CSU head coach Steve Fairchild is more than familiar with the mental pressures of college athletics. A former CSU star quarterback himself, Fairchild openly admits he can be hard on players, especially quarterbacks like Eastman. Fairchild justifies his tough love approach by explaining this is how life in the real world will be.
"It's something that you learn," he said. "When we all go out and get a job, we have to be able to handle the mental drudgery of whatever we are doing. They have to be able to handle that here too, and this (college sport) is a good life lesson for them."
Klint Kubiak, a senior safety for the Rams, explained how much strain the pressures of college can cause athletes, especially when they first experience university life.
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