Will Yarnell - My Life As An Elite Student-Athlete
Playing professional rugby for the Exeter Chiefs while simultaneously excelling in his education at a Russell Group University, Will Yarnell reflects on how being an elite student-athlete has impacted his work ethic and his employability.
Being an elite student-athlete does not require additional skill or talent to that of a regular student. Instead, it requires hard work, dedication and sacrifice. Whilst most students in academia focus purely on deadlines and coursework, an elite student-athlete has far more to juggle than just assignments.
Faced with the difficulty of professional sport and academia at the same time, elite student athletes must develop a set of robust characteristics which govern their lifestyle. Traits such as resilience, determination, time management and leadership are among those developed by student athletes.
For me personally, balancing full time academia with professional rugby is by far the greatest challenge I have ever experienced. Whether it’s 6:30am gym sessions or 8pm rugby sessions, my whole lifestyle is consumed by the balance of rugby and my studies. Ask any elite student athlete about their daily routine and they will often tell you how their day begins with an early alarm and finishes with a late bedtime.
For example, my heaviest training day on a Monday starts with a 6:15am alarm for a 6:45 gym session, before a full day of lectures, seminars and studying. Monday finishes with two sets of rugby meetings at 7pm before a two hour training session between 8pm and 10pm. In whole, a regular 6am-10pm Monday leaves me feeling both mentally and physically fatigue.
I commit to this lifestyle, and the sacrifices it brings, not because I’m forced to by a coach or team members but by the internal aspiration to be successful. Success and the fear of failure drives every early morning and every late evening. Downtime and socialising is a small part of an elite student-athlete’s timetable; it is a luxury that can only be afforded through hard work and correct time management. Even then, socialising must not come at the cost of performance or academia. For example, celebrating a win is always followed by recovery, stretching and nutrition.
Unlike normal students, elite student-athletes cannot afford to have days wasted because of a hangover or tiredness. The difficulty of this lifestyle naturally filters out those who do not want to commit to it, leaving you with a select group of individuals that embody hard work, dedication and sacrifice.
The professional mindset and the traits that develop as a result of being an elite student-athlete do not disappear when you leave academia. Instead, they continue to positively impact every action you take whether in sport or work. It is this continuance of that professional mindset which explains why so many individuals from a sporting background do so well in organisations across the world.