By Benjamin Wilson
Every year a substantial amount of student athletes travel from all over the world to play their sport for the University of Louisville. But with this great opportunity comes sacrifice. When you are miles away from home, without the comfort of a family, playing and studying can become overwhelming. Who wouldn’t get a little homesick?
“It was a hard decision, considering that it was a two-hour flight from home,” said junior Bergan Foley, a U of L women’s lacrosse player. “When I was a freshman, I remember saying that I was going to fly home every chance I got. I think all of us freshmen were saying that.”
Time on campus without family can be tough on Louisville’s student athletes. And altering their daily routine from home life to a collegiate one, filled with practicing and studying, can prove to be the greatest challenge for them, off the field.
“It is tough, especially when it comes to the homesick issue,” said junior Janaye Dzikewich, a Louisville women’s international lacrosse player from Ontario, Canada. “It is the routine change that makes it hard. Not being able to come home to mom and dad, or having the comforts of home, like meals, makes the change tough.”
Players like Foley and Dzikewich are not alone. Many freshmen and transfer athletes make the trip to Louisville. But, for them, it is the help of their coaches and teammates that enables the University of Louisville to seem more like home.
“We would hangout on the weekends with each other,” said Foley. “Or if we found out that someone on the team was homesick, we would get together with them to make them feel better.”
Coaches play a supportive role in the student athlete’s life, by making sure their studies are kept up, that they are at practice on time, and by providing support through weekly get-togethers. In these meetings, teammates and coaches sit down together to have family meals.
“One of the things that we pride ourselves on is the family atmosphere we build,” said Ken Lolla, men’s soccer head coach. “Whether it is my family or the assistant coaches’ family or the teammate family, we are creating an environment where the kids feel very welcome.”
All coaches adjust their players differently to the rigors of college life. Coach Kellie Young, of the Louisville women’s lacrosse team, emphasizes that she keeps her athletes busy.
“There is a lot of structure at the Division I level,” said Young. “So there is not enough time for them to get homesick.”
Practicing, strength training, classes on proper nutrition and leadership training are some of the activities that Coach Young provides for her players, in order to keep them mentally ready, on and off field.
For most players, it is on the field where they feel most at home.
“I don’t let homesickness affect how I play on the field,” said Foley. “No matter where I go, the lacrosse stick is always in my hands.”
Athletes like Dzikewich find that the field provides them with friends and comfort right off the bat.
“As an athlete, you have 30 best friends already on the field,” said Dzikewich. “So it makes it easy to adjust very quickly to your surroundings.”
With an array of structure and support, Louisville student athletes support each other as they grow from freshmen to seniors. Homesickness may be a factor in the beginning for an athlete, but with the help of coaches and teammates, the Louisville student athletes find that the cure for their homesickness is adjusting to a new routine and supporting each other on and off the field.
