Ask The Experts
Panel Discussion: Balancing School and Tennis
by TennisRecruiting.net, 11 September 2006
Many schools have widely-varying academic programs, and some of these programs are more demanding than others. A good example of a "tough" program is architecture; architecture programs usually require more course hours and, in some cases, more years of study.
We have heard reports of coaches who have made interesting - and distressing - comments to players during the recruiting process:
- "That degree is far too hard to manage with college tennis."
- "You should choose between college tennis and that academic program."
- "That academic program sounds difficult - you had better know how to manage your time."
We decided to put the question to our panel of experts. We asked a number of former college coaches about the balance between academics and athletics:
Q) Is it possible to play college tennis while pursuing a "challenging major," or do you discourage certain courses of study? How does this all fit in with the spirit of the scholar-athlete?
