Beginning this fall, freshmen student athletes at UW-Madison will be required to participate in the Life Skills Academy, a program that aims to help them adjust to college life as a Big Ten athlete.
Our goal is to be able to expose our freshman athletes to various topics and issues that they're going to face,"" said Kelli Richards, coordinator of the program at UW-Madison. ""Mentors will help the students with skills like time management, learning to use campus resources, getting involved on campus '¦ kind of a 'learning from your mistakes' sort of approach.""
The Life Skills Academy is UW-Madison's take on a larger NCAA program called Challenging Athletes' Minds for Personal Success.
According to Richards, the NCAA CHAMPS Life Skills program was started 13 years ago but only provides guidelines and resources for participating schools to expand upon topics such as career development, personal development and community outreach.
The Life Skills Academy at UW-Madison is targeted more toward first-year student athletes, Richards said.
Thirty-five upper-class student athletes have been selected to serve as Life Skills mentors this fall for the approximately 200 incoming freshman athletes.
""Ideally we're educating athletes and hopefully making their transition to college easier, and then on the flip side, we're giving the athlete mentors a chance to be a leader outside of their sport,"" Richards said.
""In the past we've provided a lot of these programs for athletes, but we haven't necessarily targeted our freshman,"" Richards said.
First-year athletes and mentors will be required to attend six large-group meetings throughout the academic year.
Bridget Warren, UW-Madison athletic academic advisor and co-coordinator of the Life Skills Academy, said the structure of the program will do a better job of starting freshman off with a good foundation.
""Before [the academy], the students could chose to go to any events that they wanted,"" Warner said. ""This way we can pick the topics that we think the young student-athletes need, and know that they're for sure going to get that program throughout the year.""
UW-Madison senior and member of the women's track team Kira Cerroni said she sees the Life Skills Academy as being very beneficial for younger athletes.
""As a freshman, you miss out on dorm life because you're at the stadium so much, and it's really helpful to have teammates around who have been in your situation and can give you suggestions,"" she said.
""Responsibility is a big thing, and it's important to encourage younger athletes to make smart choices when it comes to being a student athlete. It's important to learn how to balance a social life, athletics and academics.""
Warren said the focus on life skills was what made UW-Madison's Life Skills Academy stand out from similar programs at other universities.
""A lot of times universities focus on leadership, but a lot of coaches teach leadership already,"" she said. ""To hear life skills advice from a peer leader, someone closer to your age, someone who's been there '¦ it just makes more of an impact.""
