PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS

Academics

Academics are your FIRST priority. Experience will tell you that if you stay on top of your studies, go to all your classes, seek help from professors and other academic resources, and strive for academic greatness, you will be a happier person. Procrastination, missing class, not turning in assignments, will cause you stress. As you know, tennis is a game that is stressful enough without having the burden of added stress to your life because of academics. Therefore, the mathematics of your college athletics experience is simple: The better you are able to perform in your studies, the happier you will be on the tennis court. (100% - 0 = Statesmen)

Team Practice

Practice is the laboratory for your tennis development. In practice you tinker, learn, and adjust all in the spirit of improving as a player. You have to understand that matches are won and lost in practice, just as economics tests are passed and failed days/weeks before you actually take them. If you practice with a purpose, something to work on everyday, then you will improve. Improvement instills confidence, and confidence is the key to your success and ultimately the success of the team. Come to practice everyday with the goal of improving just one thing, and you will save a lot of pennies in the piggy bank when it comes to cash in at the end of the season when your performance matters most. 

Personal Health

Your ability to take care of yourself is unbelievably important to your on-court performance. If you are always sick or injured, there is no one to blame other than yourself. You’re off court habits need to change so you can get back to doing what you enjoy most: Playing at your very best. Sleep, nutrition, and hygiene are the big three maintainers of a healthy immune system. Stay away from people who are always coughing, keep your living space clean, and always wash your hands are just a few ways to keep your immune system healthy. Moderation is the key to having a healthy diet. Eat fried food, but not every day. Mix up your meals to keep a balanced diet. Ultimately, your health is in your control. If you are always sick, you need to realize that this is a result of your actions and habits, and you need to make some changes.

Personal Conduct and Citizenship

Once you become a member of the team, everything you do on and off the court has an affect on the team. Your personal conduct off the court is to be exemplary. Strive to be a model student citizen of the HWS community. You are a college student, have fun, but recognize the boundaries of “Fun-fun” and “Stupid-fun”. “Stupid-fun” can get you in trouble with Campus police or even Geneva police. If you do get in trouble having “Stupid-fun” you will cause a distraction to your team, not to mention the other stressors/burdens that will be presented to your future. So even though your poor decisions had nothing to do with tennis, as a member of the team, your decisions will distract the team. Again, the key to successfully navigating the social waters of college life rests in your ability to understand the difference between “Fun-fun” and “Stupid-fun”. 

Recruiting and Hosting

As current members of the Hobart tennis team, you are the best recruiting tool there is. When recruits come to campus and visit they are serious about potentially joining the team and being a part of your future. It is SO important that you do your very best not only to show them what it is like to a be a student at HWS, but to also try to get a read on if they would be a good teammate or not. A person’s character is more important than their talent. Obviously, we want people who are high character, talented tennis players. We want people who can fit in with the team culture of hard work, consistency, fun, and have a great attitude. We want people who are going to be future teammates and friends for life! When recruits visit, be kind, genuine, and energetic, but also try to find out if they would or wouldn’t be a good fit for YOUR team.

Cyber Image

Today everyone has the freedom to make his or her opinion public. You are all adults. Although you are young adults, know that one day you will be old adults. Don’t post, say, or be apart of anything that goes onto social media that could one day have a negative impact on your life. Without citing specific examples, just trust the fact that college sport team seasons have been canceled because of cyber stupidity by the athletes of those teams, recent grads have lost jobs because of “risky” online photos of themselves doing things either morally wrong or flat out illegal, and players have been dismissed from their team because of their stupid, insensitive online posts with regards to other people, teams, or competitors. Your cyber image is something you control. Create a positive cyber image.

Hazing

Hazing is against New York State Law, Hobart athletics department policy, and the HWS code of conduct. In short, if you are caught hazing another human being, you could be arrested, kicked off the team, and put on probation by the College. DON’T DO IT. If you are being hazed tell someone; a coach, dean, or administrator. You will be doing yourself and your teammates a favor by telling someone before something happens that cannot be undone.

Game Day Sportsmanship

You are expected to be classy all the time. Lucky for you that is a good thing. View your opponents as instruments to your own athletic and personal development. Tennis matches are not personal contests. It is not you against another man. It is simply you out their playing to improve you. Thank goodness for our opponents; they exist to help you be a better player and person. Once you adopt this perspective, sportsmanship is easy.

Sports Medicine and Strength Coaching Staff

The sports medicine staff and strength coach are your friends. They are there to help you. This fact must be understood before you are able to reap the fruits of their labor. When injuries need to be rehabbed, go to sports medicine during the day before practice, politely introduce yourself, explain to your athletic trainer what your ailment is, and work with them to find a strategy that gets you back on court ASAP. There is no pill or magic cure for injuries. They take time and effort on your part to heal. 

Your strength coach is there to help you become a better athlete. View your strength coach as your mentor in physical fitness. Take advantage of his/her knowledge by asking questions, and really try to understand how your workouts affect you as an athlete. You are stuck with your body. So learn as much as you can to take care of it for the rest of your life. It is certain that you will work out after your time at Hobart is through, and know that if you make the most of your time in RFK, you will be a much happier person later in life.

Effectively Communicating 

Effective communication with other people is so important to your success. Funny enough the only thing standing in the way of you being an effective communicator is YOU. A huge benefit of a small college is the ability to have face-to-face discussions with everyone. A face-to-face conversation is the most effective way to communicate with others. Take advantage of this FACT and practice your person-to-person communication everyday. You will never escape people, so it only helps YOU to know how to effectively communicate with them. 

Napier Leadership Seminars

All leadership seminars are to be attended unless you have a previously scheduled, life-changing event of the highest importance. Studying for a test is not a viable reason for absence. These seminars help you become a better man. In life, your character as a person is the only subject that is completely in your control.