Student-Athlete Combo

Today on SAC Kamrin Dawkins, a University of Connecticut Swim and Dive alum was interviewed. Kamrin is the first swim and dive athlete to come on the podcast for an interview and it is an awesome episode. All athletes have different stories about how they got to a university, but Kamrin’s is very unique! Its a motivation podcast that all athletes should listen to. In this episode with Kamrin we talk about these points:

• Her decision to cut gymnastics/ track out in high school and pursue diving in college
• Her process of deciding what was best for her athletic career at the next level
• High school diving in Connecticut 
• The change in academics from high school to college
• Her experience of the pace of college academics/ athletics
• The daily schedule as a diver at UConn
• How UConn matured her as an overall person
• How her mindset changed as an athlete to reach goals she never thought she could have reached
• How COVID-19 altered the end of her undergraduate track

This is a sports podcast that gives the insight of a student-athlete as it goes in-depth about the schedule and lifestyle. It’s a must-listen, remember to SUBSCRIBE!

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Today on SAC, Lauryn Harris from the University of Pennsylvania Track and Field Team was interviewed! Lauryn is a sophomore and competes in the 60m hurdles, long jump, and the 200. She had a stellar freshman year and is just getting started with her college career! In the interview she discusses:

• Her high school track career and the sacrifices that she took for a better future
• Her recruiting process and what she valued in the universities she was choosing between
• Her experience at UPenn her first year and what she likes about it
• How she has become acclimated to the student-athlete lifestyle and how she handles her time
• How her first college season went and how it was affected by COVID-19
• What she plans to accomplish in the future

Lauryn is the first T&F athlete on the podcast and she gave great insight as a student-athlete!  It’s a great sports podcast to getting insight and make sure to check it out!

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On today’s episode of Student-Athlete Combo, we wrap up the recruitment segment. This episode discusses the importance of travel sports in the youth sports world. In the past interviews, athletes expressed that they were able to play in college and get recruited through the avenue of travel/club sports. Through travel sports, they were able to develop and receive exposure to college programs. Therefore, making the decision to want to play your sport at a high level should entail finding a way to engage in travel sports. With that being said, it is imperative that research is done with certain travel teams and programs to find the right fit for you as an athlete. There are certain aspects that go into this decision-making process that we talk about in the episode. This motivation podcast is essential for young student-athletes for knowledge about the beginning of a long athletic career! 

Twitter  & Instagram: @_sacombo_

Today on SAC, Mo Sillah, a junior defender on Towson University Men’s Lacrosse was interviewed! In the interview we discuss:

• His upbringing and how he started to play lacrosse
  • How his area and schools encouraged him to start playing( The Landon School)
• The competitiveness of the DMV region with high school lacrosse
• How he got recruited to schools and how he utilized club teams and coaches to play at the next level
• How he manages the academic time management as an athlete at Towson
• The injury he went through and what the experience was like
• His success as a freshman making the CAA All-Rookie Team 
• The mindset to have come into a successful program as a freshman
• Competing regionally against other Maryland universities
  • Playing against University of Maryland Men’s Lacrosse in the 2019 NCAA Lacrosse Championship playoffs

Tune into this sports podcast for some awesome content about the college athlete lifestyle!

http://studentathletecombo.com/

Today on SAC, A West Virginia University Gynmast Alum, Julia Merwin was interviewed! Julia graduated in the spring from WVU and gave some great insight into the college athlete lifestyle, and what it’s like to be an athlete at WVU! As a Maryland native, she explained that her region doesn’t have high school gymnastics, so she competed with a club since she was a little kid. She started gymnastics when she was 5 and has loved it ever since!

Julia discussed her recruiting process and how she ended up at WVU. With this sports podcast, you can see that all athletes had different roads into college. With that being said, you shouldn’t compare your process to anybody else’s! In her athletic career, injuries were prevalent similar to many other athletes. She had to go through injuries in high school and college but overcame all of them, this is definitely a motivation podcast as well when you listen to it.

We talked about her experience at WVU and what she studied. She clarified how her team and herself managed to stay on top of classwork while they were in season and had to travel to different schools. In 2019, her squad took a trip to Cancun, Mexico for a competition and she talked all about it. Something that is really cool about college sports is that you will be able to experience things you might not ever experience without being an athlete!

Lastly, we had a conversation about the effect of COVID-19 on both of our seasons and teams. Julia is doing a lot of awesome things with her platform online and we talked about that as well. This episode will give you plenty of great content for the college athlete’s lifestyle! Make sure to check out the day in the life of a student-athlete segment as well! 

Tune in to this great college athlete podcast! 

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1106450/5332264-interview-with-julia-merwin-west-virginia-university-gymnastics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsB5jCINj9k
Twitter & Instagram: @_sacombo_

Today on SAC,  Averee Dovsek another member of the Hofstra Pride was interviewed. Averee is a Junior on the golf team She is a SoCal native majoring in Journalism while competing with the gold team. The interview with Averee was a great one, we talked about topics ranging from how she got to Hofstra, to how she has been able to parlay her student-athlete experience into endless opportunities to start her career early. Also, she is a podcast host! She is the host of the podcast, “Why you suck at golf!” which has many great guests and awesome content.

Averee and I discussed her decision to come across the country and chase her dreams on the east coast and how she has been handling it. We also talk about how she managed to put herself in the right position to advance her career in journalism outside of going to school!

Secondly, Averee explains the functions of the golf team and their schedule mentioning they play during two seasons. We talked about the competition of the CAA and how the distance of the conference plays a part in the competition. 

Internships are an important part of a student’s career and also a college athlete’s career. A lot of the time, schedules are packed and athletes don’t have time to receive work experience. However, if you have the time, you should make it happen! Averee has been able to parlay a lot of her opportunities in bigger ones that are setting her up for success.

Lastly, Averee gives very real and important advice to our current and aspiring athletes. Learn from the ones ahead of you! We have made mistakes but have also learned from them and came out on top! Listen in to a very good motivation podcast!

Instagram & Twitter @_sacombo_
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1106450/episodes/5268991-interview-with-averee-dovsek-hofstra-university-women-s-golf

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-you-suck-at-golf/id1498130060
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Today on SAC, the current Mayor of Newport News, VA was interviewed, McKinley Price. McKinley Price has been the first black Mayor to be elected in the city and he is also the president of the African American Mayors Association. In the interview, Mayor Price discusses his upbringing of athletics. He came upon watching baseball and later fell in love with Tennis. He had a connection to Tennis and played it through his years until he received a scholarship to play at the Hampton Institute which is now Hampton University. 

At Hampton Mayor Price played on a very talented Tennis squad where they set the foundation for success and paid it forward to those coming in. They made it to nationals his senior year. Mayor Price explained what he thought athletics and competition brought to the personality of people and how it can be an essential part of somebody. He discussed how and why he thinks athletic competition should be a part of his and all communities. 

He gave great examples into how sports is a benefit for him and many others, also how he has used sports to help him. Mayor Price grew up watching Arthur Ashe who was a great African American Tennis player and tried to mock his game to Ashe’s. We had also talked about how the transition from athletics to the real world fared for him and how he was able to manage it. He gave great examples and information that can help all athletes of all ages. 

The interview with Mayor McKinley Price should act as a motivation podcast as his greatest tip of advice is something that all humans should have at the forefront of their success model. Tune into this sports podcast to find out how public service and athletics mesh! 

Twitter & Instagram @_sacombo_

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1106450
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrt6yXWIgVvMWd5X3O0-UUw

Today on SAC, Richie Palacios, an infielder in the Cleveland Indians organization was interviewed. Richie was drafted in 2018 in the 3rd round after a stunning career at Towson University in Maryland. Richie set records and had several All-American records during his time there. I played against him being that Towson and Hofstra were both in the CAA acting as rivals. In the interview we discuss many things:

Richie is a very talented player but played his college ball at Towson which is a mid-major. We talked about his recruiting process and his thoughts on his development as a player mentally and physically. He gave great insight and examples of how he took his college recruitment and how he fueled it into his dreams. 

Secondly, mid-majors do not have the facilities that power 5 schools have. Richie didn’t use that as an excuse to hinder his development and finished what he needed to for reaching his goals. He mentioned his background of baseball which is very cool!

Richie gave great mental insight for all athletes and this sports podcast can definitely help all student-athletes get the information they need to overcome adversity from self-esteem, to injures, to the competition. 

Lastly, we discuss the small rivalry of Hofstra and Towson in the CAA for baseball! In 2018 the series between our schools was a heated, exciting series where Towson ended up winning it all to Richie. The advice that Richie gives in the interview should act as a motivation podcast for all athletes. His advice will put all athletes in the position to be successful, so make sure to tune in!

Twitter & Instagram @_sacombo_

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1106450

On Today’s episode of SAC, the former Mayor of Akron, Ohio, Don Plusquellic was interviewed! You are probably wondering, “what does a mayor have to do with student-athlete?” Mayor Plusquellic was a college athlete! Along with his prestigious career and several accolades, he played football at Pittsburgh in the early 1970s and was a quarterback! In this sports podcast, Mayor Plusquellic gives insight into his very impressive football career!

He explained how his career started and the highlights of his athlete days. Secondly, he gives a timeline of his college days leading to how he got into the industry of public service.

You may not realize, but public service and athletics have several important and interesting parallels that gave him the urge to pursue this kind of career. In the episode, Mayor expresses those parallels and the great lessons that athletics have to offer for all humans. 

I was curious and asked Mayor Plusquellic as a Mayor how important he thought the implementation of athletic programs for kids and his community was, and he answered greatly! He gave an outside the box answer that brought everything to come full circle! The insight he gave to young athletes on how to go about their lives was priceless and this episode is a must-listen! 

This episode with the former Mayor of Akron, Ohio, Don Plusquellic, acts as a motivation podcast to our athletes clarifying that the lessons and morals learned through competition can take you anywhere you want in life! This is definitely a must-listen episode!

Twitter & Instagram @_sacombo_

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1106450

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrt6yXWIgVvMWd5X3O0-UUw

Today on SAC, La Salle University Women’s Lax player, Mikki Raymond was interviewed. Mikki is a senior who was affected by the COVID-19 stoppage in early March like me. In the episode, we discussed our experiences going through the stoppage while we were in the middle of our seasons and how it changed the whole NCAA dynamic. The year 2020 was the year of many firsts. The firsts included many things happening for college athletes around the country. The NCAA had many rules and changes in place to keep athletes safe and help them. Unfortunately, the timing still left a lot of athletes without a senior year of sports.

Mikki talked about the evolution of her lacrosse career along with the evolution of the sport in her area. She explained her recruiting process and how she ended up at La Salle. This sports podcast features her A-10 experience and her school experience. We discussed the hardest part for her about being a student-athlete and how she manages some common struggles. 

Lastly, a lot of people shy away from being college athletes because they think they won’t have enough free time. They are wrong! With time management, your social life can be 100% better as a student-athlete. You will create the best memories and relationships that Mikki touched on as a college athlete. She talked about their social life dynamic as an athlete at La Salle and I touched on my experiences at Hofstra. All in all, social life is a part of college and you won’t miss it as an athlete. 

Make sure to tune in to the motivation podcast to hear about what it’s like to be an athlete at La Salle University!

Twitter & Instagram @_sacombo_
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrt6yXWIgVvMWd5X3O0-UUw
http://studentathletecombo.com/