The jump from high school to collegiate sports can be a first-year freshman’s nightmare. 

The infamous stigma of coming into college as a ‘freshmeat’ can be scary. Being a freshman to most means riding the bench, picking up after the upperclassmen or even becoming a part-time “ball boy”, but in this case things are different. The Colorado Mesa University athletic department treats its athletes right regardless of their graduating class or scholarship status. The opportunities are there. each athlete is viewed just the same and hazing is almost non-existent nowadays. 

The main challenges young athletes face is the amount of free time you no longer have and the new, faster pace, play style. Varsity sports can turn into almost a full-time job combine that with regular going to class and trying to maintain a somewhat normal social life, it’s not easy. 

“It’s just been great here. I can already see the team developing as one. Everyone is treated pretty equally on the team,” freshman lacrosse player Joey Meighan said.  

In the past, sports like lacrosse or football tend to treat freshmen poorly and hazing is a by-product of a lack of mentorship and respect towards the younger guys.

“Hazing isn’t really a problem,” Meighan said.  “Most older guys try to take the younger guys under their wing and make them better as players.”

That’s the key, rather than bringing down or degrading the freshman, older players look to make them better as well as be made better as players themselves by the younger athletes on the team.  

According to players, the opportunity to play as a freshman is there as well. Scholarship or not, the best athlete will play to some degree. 

“Players who produce are the ones who get to see the field, regardless if they’re on a scholarship or not,” Freshman football player Lee Biersner said. “The players on a scholarship are obviously expected to produce more, but if a walk-on athlete or non-scholarship player is dominating the man in front of him than he will definitely be seeing the field.” 

This isn’t very common compared to big-name Div. I school around the country. Most major universities base playing time on how high profile of a recruit an athlete was coming out of high school compared to their actual athletic ability or work ethic. Very few schools really are giving opportunities or setting to thrive as first-year players. CMU does a great job of changing the mantra for the young guys. 

With all this being said, it’s safe to say that freshmen at CMU are welcomed with open arms and respected. They are encouraged to become better student-athletes and are given the tools and opportunities to do so.