Chances are that most high school aged athletes have thought about playing athletics in college at some level. In my experience, it is a dream that many athletes have but few get to live out.

Am I good enough? Do I work hard enough? Are my goals realistic? Is this really what I want?

If you have players that want to reach the next level, these are the types of questions that they should be asking themselves. When it comes down to it, it would appear that most athletes love the idea of playing collegiately; they don’t actually love the process. When thinking about collegiate sports, it’s easy to get lost in the glory: the instant credibility, the affirmation that you’re a good player and the opportunity to play for a national championship.  

The process is often overlooked. The process includes hard work, late nights, early mornings, blood, sweat, tears, failure and so much more.

If college athletics is a goal of yours, look yourself in the mirror and answer honestly: the idea of reaching the next level is great, but do you want it bad enough?

I interviewed two-sport Division III athlete Samantha Berger, on what it really takes to play DIII hockey. Samantha graduated in 2015 from Hamline University where she played wing for the Hamline Pipers.

A typical day for Samantha while at Hamline depended on the time of the year.

If it were pre-season she would be up and in the gym by 6:30 or 7:00 am, then have classes beginning at 9:00am. Any free time she had before practice was spent in the library studying and doing homework.

If it were in-season, Monday-Thursday practice was from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. After practice, it would be time to hit the gym. After an hour (or longer) lift, she would head back to the library for homework/studying.

If you think that is a lot of time spent on hockey, you’d be surprised to find out that game days took up even more time! With travel, preparation, warm ups, the game itself and cool down, the game could easily take up the entire day.

I asked Samantha to share a sample schedule (see below).

7:00 am - Wake up

7:15 am – Breakfast

9:00 am -12:30pm - Classes

12:30 pm -1:00 pm – Lunch

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm – Library (homework/study)

4:00 pm Light dinner

4:30 pm – Leave for the rink

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm – On ice

7:00 pm -8:00 pm – Gym/Lift

8:30 pm -11:00+ pm – Snack and Library (homework/study)

11:30 pm - Bed

In Samantha’s opinion, the biggest difference between DI and DIII is speed. Samantha says, “most DIII players have all the same skills as any DI player, it's just the speed at which we can execute them is the main difference.” However, in order to be able to play collegiate hockey at any level, it takes hard work.

A lot of athletes think they’re working hard but don’t really know what hard look means and/or looks like. Hard work isn’t just coming to practice and doing the drills. “Hard work means going above and beyond what is expected of you. I wasn't expected to lift every day, even during the season, but I would still go to the gym for at least an hour every day either before or after practice. Running track taught me a very important lesson: as hard as you may think you are working or pushing yourself, you can always give a little more. You are capable of surprising yourself when you just give a little more than you think you are already giving” (Berger, 2017).

Athletes should be constantly reminded that there is always someone working harder than them. Hard work is a non-negotiable.

Samantha began preparing for college hockey in high school. She played year round, never taking time off. She played her regular high school season, in leagues in the spring and fall and did over-speed training in the summer. Additionally, she shot pucks and stickhandled in her backyard and hit the gym daily.

Young people should begin preparing before they even get to high school. “Players should already be exposed to college coaches and should be playing their best hockey in those years [sophomore, junior and senior years] to get to college” (Berger, 2017).

A lot of athletes think they can ‘coast’ into playing DIII hockey. “Coasting doesn't work when you're playing, so why would it work in any other area of life? If you want anything, you have to push yourself. That's the only way you can truly achieve in life. You have to go outside of your comfort zone and that means even doing things you don't necessarily feel like doing” (Berger, 2017).

I asked Samantha to give a final piece of advice to players wanting to play DIII ice hockey.  Berger says, “It always pays to go back to your basics and work on skating form and passing- you can never be too good at those skills. It really does pay off big time to shoot and stick handle on your own or get out there and play pond hockey. One of my biggest regrets is not pushing myself more to practice on my own. Your future-self will thank you for the work you put in today.”

So, is college athletics in the cards for your players? Do they have what it takes? Are they doing what it takes?

Athletes, I leave you with this: the pain you feel now [in training] hurts a lot less than the pain of regret.