Athletics and Academics: Success Comes Both on the Field and Off for the Blossoms

Contributing Writer

   On top of breaking multiple records on the field and winning the Gulf South Conference-West division, the University of Arkansas –Monticello softball team’s 2006-2007 cumulative grade point average ranked sixth nationally in Division II softball according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

   With seven NFCA Scholar Athletes, the Blossom’s 3.49 cumulative GPA ranked best in the GSC ahead of Valdosta State ranked ninth nationally with a 3.47, Delta State ranked 29th nationally with a 3.29, and Henderson State ranked 51st nationally with a 3.15.

    In a time where athletic achievement gains most all the attention, head coach Alvy Early said academic achievement needs to be acknowledged.

   “It’s a part of the expectations of the program, to take academics seriously,” Early said. “Last year was an outstanding year. We may not be No. 6 in the nation this year and we may not win the conference, but we are certainly going to try to do both.”

    Early said the team has been ranked nationally before in the NFCA’s GPA list, but the No. 6 ranking is by far the highest. Faculty Athletic Representative Betty Matthews said the softball team perennially sits atop the list of highest GPAs for athletic programs on campus.

   Early takes a hands-off approach when it comes to the academic wellbeing of his team: telling the players upfront the expectations and leaving it up to the individual. He said if a player does not meet those expectations then they will not have a team to play for the following year.

   When recruiting a player, Early looks for both athletic and academic promise, and said he does not give an athletic scholarship to a player unless they also have some sort of academic scholarship.

   “Myself, I do not want to make an investment in an academic risk,” he said. “I need to know I can count on them. That goes along with, although softball is important to me as it is to them, there is a life past their playing careers.”

    Senior first baseman Meredith Heckel and senior second baseman Lauren Brooks made the Chancellor’s List with a perfect 4.0 GPA during their junior season in 2007, along with alumni Sarah Reed. Four other Blossoms made with Dean’s List for the spring semester.

  To go along with her academic success, the GSC named Heckel, who set the team home run record with 22, the GSC West Player of the Year. Heckel said to achieve both academically and athletically, one must keep the two separated.

   “It takes experience to keep it separated,” she said. “You have to go to class, obviously, listen, take good notes, try to strike some kind of relationship up with the professor.  Let him know you’re there. Believe me, that helps a lot.

   “It helped playing all through high school for me. We kind of grew up knowing how to do this.”

   A two-time GCS All-Academic honoree, Brooks not only plays softball, but also holds the position of a campus Ambassador and is in the honor society Alpha Chi. She said the key to balancing her schedule is getting ahead at the start of a semester.

   “When I get assigned projects I like to do them as soon as I get them because I know with softball and everything else it gets crazy,” Brooks said. “Whenever I get stuff I do it immediately and get it over with so I don’t have to worry about it.”

   As a testament of success both on the field and off, both players are scheduled to graduate in May. Early said the four other seniors will graduate in another semester.

   Early said although he may get some of the credit, all of it belongs to the individuals. On road trips, he said the lights on the bus are always on with the players working hard doing schoolwork.

   With the criticism student-athletes receive for missed class time, Early said if a person looks at his team they would see that it cannot only be done, but done well.

   “We’re the example it does not matter,” Early said. “We’ve probably missed as much class time as any extracurricular group on campus and had the best grade point average.”

Have a comment? Please e-mail us.

©The Voice 2008