The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Blog: Stories from the field with Brinkley [Oct. 27, 2015]
10.27.2015 | Soccer
In this week's blog, senior defender Brinkley Field discusses a normal "Day in the Life" for a Texas soccer player
Being a Division I athlete is nothing short of incredible, stressful and fun. One thing's for sure though: we are ALWAYS busy. It's all about the rise and grind. Let me take you through an average day...
It all starts around 7 a.m. when our alarm clocks go off. We get up, get dressed, get to our cars and get to C-lot (parking lot by Myers Stadium) before it fills up around 7:45. After that, we head to our classes for the day (or if you're a freshman, you'll head to study hall from 8 a.m.-10 a.m.). We pay attention and take notes until lunch time rolls around and our stomachs start to grumble. Most of us schedule our classes such that we have a break for lunch. The TANC (aka the Texas Athletics Nutrition Center aka our new dining hall) just opened on the sixth floor of North Endzone in the football stadium! It's brand new, and the food is always on point. When they make the pizza on the wood burning pizza ovens...get out of the way, you know where the soccer players will be. Ha! Kidding, we frequent the salad and yogurt parfait bar as well.
Let me put this in perspective for you really quickly: athletes can practically live in North Endzone. On the first floor, there's a Starbucks (coffee is a game-changer). On the fifth floor, there's study hall and the coaches offices. On the sixth floor, there's the dining hall. Below the first floor, B1 houses the training room, and B2 is our weight room. So really, put a soccer field inside, and we're good to go!
Back to a day in the life. Ok, so after lunch we head to one more class until around 2 o'clock. That's about the time when everyone starts making their way to Myers Stadium for practice. We don't start practice until 3:30, but before practice, we chill and nap in the team room, work on homework and go and get treatment with Gabe, our trainer. Eventually 3:30 rolls around, and we hit the field. We typically finish around 5:30 or so and then head back to North Endzone for an ice bath. We will then head up to dining hall for dinner around 6:15. After that, it's time to think about going home and studying. Can't forget about our homework! Depending on where one likes to study, you can either go to study hall, a local coffee shop or just your apartment or dorm! I will study for a couple of hours, then shower and sleep. I don't like to stay up too late because our days start somewhat early!
Basically, life is broken into soccer "seasons"...fall is all about games. It's the best. Spring is all about offseason--lots of running, lifting and practicing. And summer, it's the toughest for me but also fun because fall games are around the corner. It's all about summer conditioning and training before preseason. Soccer never stops!!! It's really 24/7. And that's just the way all of us like it!
See you all on Friday at "Senior Night!!!"
Brinks