In high school, they’re a senior’s punching bag or a
joke’s punch line. Whether it’s because they
haven’t hit puberty yet or can’t find their way to
class, freshmen are subject to endless ridicule with every blunder
they make.
In college, freshmen aren’t hassled when their cell phone
rings in class or when they trip over their feet on Bruin Walk. By
and large, they blend right into the campus social and academic
scenes.
But in collegiate athletics, freshmen can’t always shake
their age. Their status can be used to emphasize accomplishments or
excuse letdowns. For freshmen who receive All-American honors, the
most impressive part is how they achieve it their very first year.
For those who never leave the bench, a main reason is it is just
their rookie season.
How early freshmen leave their mark usually depends more on the
makeup of the team they are joining than their own ability to
adjust. This past year, Emily Feher and Chris Heintz exemplified
the range of impacts freshmen can have on a team. From the first
game of the season, Feher was the women’s water polo starting
goalkeeper, anchoring a defense that led the Bruins to a 22-5
record and No. 3 ranking. Heintz also played for a national
championship-contending team in men’s golf, but, unlike
Feher, he was a spectator during the run.
“It was (difficult),” Heintz said of not seeing much
playing time. “But it makes you work harder, and I learned a
lot.”
With four of the team’s five starters graduating, Heintz
will be poised to play a much more significant role in the upcoming
season. The waiting game he went through is common for most
freshmen. Athletes like Feher tend to be the exception, not the
rule.
After four-year starter and second-team All-American Jamie Hipp
graduated in 2003, Feher could immediately fill the goalkeeping
vacancy. Unlike the men’s golf team, women’s water polo
started entirely from scratch.
“We were being thrown into place,” Feher said.
“We didn’t have the older girls to show us
around.”
Yet just because Feher lacked surrounding senior leadership or
Heintz lacked playing time did not mean they had trouble adjusting
to college.
“The transition was pretty smooth,” Feher said.
“UCLA has a sound program, and I was used to hard practices
in high school.”Â
Besides the hard practices, most UCLA athletes became accustomed
to lots of winning in high school. Heintz’s Brea-Olinda team
won their league each of his four seasons, while he earned Orange
County Register Player of the Year honors himself. At Foothill High
School, Feher and teammate Gabbie Domanic were part of a class that
won the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section
title in each of their four years.
“Other teams were scared of Foothill,” Feher
recalls. “It was different at UCLA this past year.”
The women’s water polo starting lineup that featured four
freshmen and three sophomores was not nearly as imposing as the
previous season’s national champions that boasted four
seniors and four Team USA members. Coaches understand that the
transition from decorated high school phenom to widely acclaimed
collegiate superstar does not occur overnight.
“Players are stronger, bigger, and faster,”
men’s basketball coach Ben Howland said. “They’re
playing at a higher level.”
Adjusting to the stronger athletic competition is only one
aspect freshmen must deal with their first year. When most athletes
arrive at UCLA, it is their first prolonged period away from
home.
“Not having parents around, I had to learn to manage my
time better with so many hours of practice,” Feher said.
However, athletes such as Feher, whose season does not start
until winter quarter, benefit from the later start because it
allows for more time to become acclimated to the college
atmosphere. Before even playing her first game, Feher already had a
sense for the academic demands and social distractions college life
poses. It was a change of pace she wholeheartedly enjoyed.
“I like the college setup,” Feher said. “There
isn’t six hours straight of classes. You get lots of breaks
in between.”
Heintz has also easily adjusted to UCLA’s academic
workload.
“The classes were not as difficult as I had
thought,” Heintz said. “I wasn’t intimidated by
the big classes in huge lecture halls.”
Socially, freshmen athletes have a natural advantage over their
incoming counterparts. As part of a team, they have a built-in
niche to develop close and lasting friendships before even moving
into the dorms. Still, the diversity of UCLA’s student body
is not completely lost on them. Â
“I’ve found a bunch of different people from all
walks of life,” Heintz said. “They’re all very
interesting.”
Feher and Heintz have another advantage many freshmen athletes
do not have. Growing up in Orange County, neither had to stray too
far from familiar surroundings when leaving for college.
“It’s not hard unless they’re a long way from
home,” Howland said of the adjustment for freshmen.
His basketball team this year features four freshmen, all from
the Los Angeles area.
“They can see their parents when they need to,”
Howland said.
He is quick to point out, though, that each athlete is
different. Not every freshman has adapted to the new environment as
smoothly as Feher and Heintz. Some are unwilling to sit on the
sidelines, while others are reluctant to take charge their very
first year. They find that classes are not a cakewalk and excessive
partying can ruin athletic futures.
Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of Bruin athletes do
make it past their freshman season. Some eventually live up to or
even exceed the hype they received as a recruit. And, from that
select pool, a few get to relive their freshmen experience all over
again, this time at the professional level.