Every Opportunity Has a Cost
Riding in college was one of the best experiences of my life and also one of the worst experiences of my life. Here is my story of my experience. I can only speak to my experience on my team, this by no means, is trying to say every team is like this.
Most of the time you hear about the experiences about riding on a Division One college team to be one of the greatest things to ever happen to a person, but you don't usually hear the other side. Those of us who didn’t compete every meet, or ever. The ones that were behind the scenes to never be recognized. The ones that got looked over. The ones that never got a chance.
Coming into college having been given a chance to ride on an amazing team was one of the scariest and most exciting times in my life. I was given the opportunity to got to college at a wonderful school with the perk of being an athlete at a Division one University, something I never would have dreamed for myself. The amazing perks from being an athlete are beyond of what I ever could have imagined, but the costs started to quickly add up.
The time commitment. Immediately upon arrival and move it you are swept into meeting after required meeting, and thats just the beginning. Between the required 10 study hall hours, practice every day of the week, workouts three days a week, and then your schoolwork. There isn't much time you have to yourself. You learn how to manage it better each year you are there but the amount of time you have to yourself never changes.
Signing your life away is an understatement. One of the first meetings is a compliance meeting where you basically provide them every detail of your life and belongings so they make sure you are following the NCAA rules. Yes, they even have to know who bought your car. And even worse if you get a new one beware they will think a donor bought it and give you complete hell, even if you notify them and provide the info. There are rules for your social media, there are rules on who has to be your friend, there are even rules for where you are allowed to go.
Politics. If you have done anything in the horse industry you know that it is full of politics and at some point you just want to get as far away from that as possible. That was me I was tired of it. Little did I know that on my team money ruled the roost around here. We had a very talented team while I was there and most of the time talent won out. But if you give a lump sum of money you could buy your way into a coveted spot on the roster. And the exhibition spot is always up for bidding. If you win it with your money, lets just say that you can keep it and no one else will get it. So then no one else gets a chance to prove themselves.
The Work. Working is something I never had a problem with, because in order to succeed it takes work. What I did have a problem with is only some people working and others taking credit for it. Being behind the scenes is not what bothered me, what bothered me is other people doing absolutely nothing and then getting praised because they won a point for the team. I was never jealous of the competitors, I resented them because most, not all, never lifted a finger except for mounting their horse and riding. That, to me, just isn't right. We are all horsewomen, we should all pitch in and do our part to better the team; but unfortunately it didn’t happen that way.
Finding my Place. Once I realized there really was never even a chance to compete I found my place working behind the scenes with the horses. Working with horses is something I enjoy and will do it the rest of my life as long as in financial able. A select few of us realized if we worked hard behind the scenes then we could go home earlier and the work would get done right and wouldn’t have to be done twice. That’s what I did with my remained 3 years. Just worked. I found my place warming up the horses on meet day and then taking care of our horses when they were done competing, until suddenly as a Senior I became “incapable” of warming horses up. I just settled into taking care of our ponies.
A Chip on my Shoulder. I carried that chip on my shoulder from Freshman year all the way to the Senior year when I realized it wasn't worth it. I just gave up being bitter (well most of my bitterness) and just accepted it for what it was. I decided I was going to use them to get ahead like they used me. This was one of the best things I ever did for myself. I just went through the motions and found my place. I made some friends my senior year that I will cherish the rest of my life, even though I had been on the team with them for 4 years.
My Two Cents. If you are wanting to ride in college I would say do it. Even though I did not have the same experience as some of the other people on my team I am glad I did it. It taught be a lot about hard work and that no matter how hard you work then there is always going to be someone else trying to take credit and that’s how it is always going to be. The experience is what you make it, and now I know that. Winning championships really isn't comparable to any other experience but getting there is a battle all in itself. My advice, don't turn your nose up at a less successful program, because sometimes those programs are where you will have a better experience. Try and give yourself as many options as you can when looking at schools. And think about what you want in school. Do you want the experience of a college kid or the experience of a college athlete because there really is a huge difference when choosing and program, and even if you want to ride in Division 1 NCAA Equestrian. Also, don't be too much of a snob to look into IHSA, a mistake I know I made.