By Alex Mitchell -- STAFF WRITER
Picture this: An early morning class, a five-page paper due at midnight and 100 pages of reading to do by Thursday. Sounds fairly common to the average college student. Now add an hour-long weight training session before the sun is up and practice during sunset isn't as typical, but that’s standard of a division one NCAA student-athlete.
During their offseason, Hofstra athletes commit up to five hours a week in the weight room. That doesn't include routine team practice. The physical demands of student-athletes rivals the higher ends of the United States Armed Forces.
Joseph Staub is the head strength and conditioning coach for Hofstra University. Before joining the Pride, he was on staff with both the University of Kansas as well as the University of Connecticut. If his resume isn't impressive enough for you, then this will be: According to Staub, Hofstra isn't so different than Kansas or UConn as they’re perceived to be. “Kansas men’s basketball is much different than here not because the kids aren’t capable, they actually do pretty much the same stuff physically … our kids are just as talented and can do the same things, it’s just looked at differently,” said Staub. School size is a major factor of success in athletics. Remember, a 16-seed has never taken the tournament.
A school isn't limited to one sport, though, and certainly not Hofstra. Between men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and field hockey, the Pride has demonstrated clear dominance this fall season. Not to mention this year’s high aspirations for the basketball program. These athletes are bringing Hofstra the best publicity it’s seen in a long time – and they’re certainly working for it.
According to Staub, Hofstra’s softball team is currently training with his colleague, Emily Esselman. They’re training four days a week with one-and-a-half-hour and one-hour sessions twice a week. Staub said, “Coach Emily is doing a little bit of everything with them. She’s doing conditioning, she’s doing agility, she’s doing strength work, she’s doing power work, she’s doing technique work to enhance what they’re doing to get more out of it.” That training regime will continue until February, when their season starts up. For some softball players, training started in July. That program is four days a week for eight consecutive months. Not to mention going to college full-time.
At least it ends there, right? Wrong. In order for coaches to track athletes’ progression and performance, they’ve instituted conditioning tests. This is standard for all NCAA athletics. Hofstra lacrosse has a unique conditioning test that Staub calls the “Hofstra custom test.” Also known as The Red Zone Test, it’s a series of 20 consecutive, randomized sprints. The sprints range from short to long and include changes of direction and straightaway sprints. As soon as you finish one, you start the next. It’s a lacrosse requirement. Imagine finishing all that and then while catching your breath, you remember that you have a five-page paper due at midnight.
Before I scare all my readers away, keep in mind this is just offseason training. I haven't even touched on traveling to away games while in-season. Make sure you’ve got that 100-page class reading handy while you're icing up after a tough loss on a bad call. Ask yourself, how often after you’ve just done your 20 minutes of cardio do you want to jump into the books? If you would prefer to skip it, watch movies and blissfully take a zero – just keep in mind your NCAA minimum GPA requirement.
Student-athletes everywhere, and especially at Hofstra, are constantly raising the standard of excellence. This year, Staub is even incorporating an NBA combine-style workout for Hofstra’s men’s basketball team.
The bottom line is that nobody is playing a Division I sport by accident. From the bench to a starting role, each athlete is earning their stripes while keeping their academics on lockdown. For just seven days, I challenge anyone who reads this to be up before sunrise, work out, attend classes, do an instructional session for a sport of your choice and then finish homework. See for yourself what the demand is.