Being a college soccer player is such an amazing achievement and can offer some fun while being in college. It can also be very stressful if you do not know how to balance school, a social life, and play soccer. The key to balancing college life as an athlete is to stay on a schedule. Most of the time college soccer players come to the campus before any of the other students, this is for preseason.

Even though you are practicing twice a day and may have many different meetings, this gives you a chance to become familiar with the campus and also to get comfortable being in a new environment. Another advantage to being on the soccer team as that you can make friends more easily and there are people on the team who are older than you that can show you the ropes to your new life.

Freshman Year

Soccer season is in the fall semester the first semester of your college life will tend to be a big adjustment. Going to class and having workouts and games it can be hard to manage it all. Most teams tend to practice in the afternoon, a good suggestion would be to schedule your classes in the morning. This will prevent you from having any conflict with you class schedule and your soccer schedule. Scheduling your classes in the morning may also give you a chance to take a nap before practice which will become very beneficial to you once the season gets going.

After class comes practice which usually takes up 2-3 hours of your day. The reason is because if you need anything treated before practice such as taping an ankle, or getting heated before practice this all needs to be done before the start of practice. The next thing would be to get to practice about 20 minutes before the session actually starts. Most coaches want you to already be warmed up before they get to the field. After practice you may be required to take an ice bath to prevent you from being sore the next day.

Schedule during season

During the season you will usually have tough practices Monday through Wednesday and then they will become lighter as the week progresses to get you ready for the game on Saturday. The best way to get your homework done or anything you have to do for School is to try to set a time after practice to get this work done. The most beneficial thing to do it make the time consistent everyday. Some colleges make you do study hall your first year of school and this can be allotted time you devote to doing your homework, some colleges do not make you do this and you will have to come up with a time on your own.

One day out of the week you may have an off day to rest, this time is good to get caught up on school work and also hang out with friends that you have made around campus. The spring semester maybe a little different because teams usually have two practices during the off season, a workout session and a lifting session. These usually occur one in the morning before classes begin and one in the afternoon.

Offseason

The offseason coaches are usually more easy going in letting you miss practice if you have a lot of homework to turn in, but this will not work all the time. Balancing your school work, social life, and soccer will become a little more difficult because there will be a bit of a change in how you are used to operating.

Once you make a consistent pattern of how you work effectively college life will feel like a breeze. You may even find time to get a paralegal certificate online if that's what you choose to do. College soccer is fun, but education is important.