Winning Performance Peer Educators

Taken directly from the Winning Performance brochure put together by Peer Educators

Stepping Up Your Game In Life

Life as a student athlete is intense! Students who are not involved in athletics probably don't understand how demanding a daily schedule can be for us. Training.... the need to be competitive and perform consistently. The stress of maintaining academics and knowing the heat that comes if we don't. Time is hard to find. Travel, daily practice, fatigue, re-scheduling classes. Partying and just hanging out are luxuries we often can't afford. "Catching up is an on-going process".

Performance can be judged by a single decision an athlete makes

A player takes a bad shot, and the game was lost at the buzzer. A tennis player suffers a loss of concentration, and a shot misses the line on set point. A kicker takes a wrong step and ruins his approach, missing the goal posts. In order to prepare to succeed, we practice.

We choose methods of training, and we condition our bodies and minds, in hopes that when the moment of truth comes, we have what it takes to score victory. We can have the best coaches in the world, but if we can't count on ourselves in the competition, we can't be the champions. The decisions we make in terms of alcohol or drug use are much the same. If we make poor choices, we forget what we have learned about the effects of alcohol, and we suffer the consequences. Our friends, families, and coaches can try and steer us in the right direction, but ultimately the decisions are ours.

What we forget sometimes is that a wrong decision about drugs or alcohol can carry more negative consequences than a lost game. For example, you can't bounce back from a drunk driving conviction like you can from battling a slump.

If you do happen to throw a few back, remember:

• Set limits on the amount you drink. Our bodies metabolize a little less than one drink an hour.
• Follow campus and team policy. Don't risk your athletic or collegiate career because of your social life.
• Never drive after drinking or get into a car with a driver who has been drinking.
• Avoid alcohol and sex. "SEX UNDER THE INFLUENCE" increases our chances of emotional consequences, sexual assault, STD 's and STI 's, also unwanted pregnancy.

*Once we have made our choices, we have to stick with them. Make the same positive commitment to yourself outside of your sport that you make within it!