Student athletes are constantly faced with the pressure of balancing their hectic schedules academically with their equally demanding schedules in the athletic realm. The Fanshawe College Athletic Department has been taking the initiative to help athletes with this issue and they are taking several positive steps in the right direction.

Currently in its seventh year of existence, the Fanshawe Athletics Student Success Program is a tool that student athletes use in order to ensure their success academically.

The program, which is coordinated with the athletes, the Fanshawe Athletic staff and coordinators, and the various faculty that teach the respected student athletes, outlines a contract agreement between the athlete and the faculty members within the individual athletes academic program.

Included within the agreement are details on the athletes academic standing, their athletic eligibility, as well as academic request forms for exemptions to switch various tests or exam times, and monthly progress reports that are monitored by the Athletic Department.

Manager of Athletics, Mike Lindsay said the program overall has made steady improvements over the years and will continue to do so.

“We are continually trying to make improvements to it,” Lindsay said. “Our main focus of the program is to get the athletes to buy into it. It is the coaches and the coordinators that really drive the program.”

Lindsay said that the program is designed to help improve the academic achievement of every athlete in the Athletic program and not just the athletes who may be having difficulty.

“There is a perception that the program is for the weak students only,” Lindsay said. “It is to bring your B's to A's and to qualify for top academic honours and cash. You can put it on your resume and the students with the best grades generally get the best jobs as well. The program deals with students success on an annual basis.”

Vice President of Athletics for the Fanshawe Student Union Rubelyn Ubando said she feels the Athlete Success Program is working in a very positive manner and that athletes have nothing bad to say regarding the program.

“I do not hear athletes ever complaining about it, so I think that is a good thing,” Ubando said.

The success of the program is displayed by the various Fanshawe athletes who were honoured nationally by the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) in 2005/2006 for their achievements both in academics and athletics.

John Mason from the Cross-country team, and Adam St. Laurent from the men's soccer team were among the Fanshawe athletes named CCAA Scholar Athlete recipients in 2005/2006 by maintaining a grade point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale while maintaining their eligibility as a CCAA athlete.

When analyzing statistics from when the program was initially launched in the 2000/2001 academic year, 63.9 per cent of the overall athletes were fully successful in completing the program, whereas 16.5 per cent of the overall student athletes were deemed academically ineligible.

In comparison to the most recent 2005/2006 statistics, 77.8 per cent of student-athletes were fully successful, and only seven per cent of the athletes were academically ineligible.

Lindsay said that he is very pleased with the progression of the program, and although this past semester some athletes were unfortunately placed as ineligible for the upcoming athletic season, he is very happy with the overall success of the athletes.

“There is always going to be some” Lindsay said regarding athletes who will become ineligible. “But things are looking pretty good.”

Lindsay said he could not comment on the names or teams from which the most recent players were reported as ineligible for the upcoming 2007 winter semester.

Time management, study skills, organization, nutrition, social life, and bad habits that do not fit with school life are many of the key reasons why many of the ineligible athletes are unsuccessful with the athletic program, according to Lindsay.

“Sometimes you have to change the influence of the people around you,” Lindsay said. “You have to change your habits, and you have to be willing to make a paradigm shift with your whole approach if you are going to be successful. There are those people walking around here, they just cannot meet the demand that is required and the commitment for this program. It is unfortunate.”

Along with the Student Athlete Success Program, Fanshawe Athletics also implements many other initiatives to help student athletes achieve academic success including, providing detailed calendars to help each athlete with organization skills, the presence of academic advisors on each intercollegiate team, and the availability of two councilors from the Fanshawe College Learning Centre for the entire student-athlete population, among others.