Ultimate Guide for Ball State Sports

The world of sports and athletics carries an immense amount of value when it comes to bringing a community of differing characteristics together; whether it be differences in ethnicity, gender, interests, age, and so much more, sports can hold interest that everyone can gravitate towards. Ball State athletics is a prime example of how a University can encourage and engage the student body both on or off campus. With several pops, several being held under the umbrella that is Ball State athletics. For the research, we have decided to take a deeper dive into the following Ball State sports; football, women’s soccer, baseball, and women’s basketball. We also are looking into Ball State Athletics and how they could increase their reach and engagement collectively, with both the student body and faculty.

Football

Safety at BSU

There is always a lot of concern about football and the safety of players within the sport. Players are protected and prepared and also train their bodies to take what comes with football. College football has 20 CARA hours per week that they can not exceed. When training players wear a catapult vest to track players heart rates to see how players bodies are responding to physical activity. When practicing players wear soft shells on their helmets to limit the helmet-to-helmet contact. These are some of the things Ball State has to ensure player safety.

Training Blocks

It starts in the winter with winter workouts. This is where the heavy lifting is done and conditioning as well. They work out every other day working different muscle groups to give other muscles rest. They also have a day for recovery and stretching the body to make sure your body is getting proper care and recovery. Then the spring with spring ball and more workouts. The loads are different in the weight room because of spring ball practice. They also only lift twice a week during spring ball. The reps in spring ball practice are well divided between different teams to ensure players are not overworked. Throughout the offseason, there are times when the chiropractor comes, and players can get some work done for free.

Then there is summer where you get to your primal condition for the season. This is when they focus on speed, acceleration, and explosive movements. This is where players focus on running techniques and mechanics to ensure players do not hurt themselves while running. This is also to prepare for the workload the players will get during training camp. Training camp is a two to three-week period where player loads are the highest on the field. For players ice baths are mandatory and they will also have pool days once a week for recovery. During the offseason, the training room is always open for when players want to get any extra recovery in. The weight room and strength coaches are also available for extra recovery as well. They also have message guns, and normatec boots for extra recovery.

In season safety

During the season players have a light lift the day after games. This is so players' bodies can get functional movement to decrease the soreness and stiffness after the games. Two days after the game is the player's off day when they can go to the pool for recovery. While the weight room and training room will be open for extra recovery. Then players during the practice week have Thursday, and Friday where there is little to no contact between players at practice. This is so the player's body has time to rest before the game on Saturday.

Ball State Football players are trained and prepared to take the hits that come with the game of football. With their long offseason, they take great pride in allowing players to recover and take care of their bodies. If players feel like they're being overworked or if the program is going over their CARA hours, they always have the option to report it to the athletic director for it to be investigated.

Women's Soccer

(Ball State Women’s Soccer Team 2023; For a full roster break down- https://ballstatesports.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster)

Current Stats

The women's soccer team at Ball State has been on a roll this season with their most recent win against Central Michigan projecting them into the 2023 MAC Women's Soccer Championship and closing the regular season with a win for Ball State Women's Soccer. With a total of 8 wins this season with 6 wins in conference and three back to back wins, the women have been putting their best foot forward.

A Top Team of Top Players

Several of the women on the team have been acknowledged for their hard work and athleticism throughout the season. One of these women being Senior Avery Fenchel who was named the Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Week in the middle of October which is a great honor. She is ranked 13th in the nation and in October had already made 11 goals this season.

Fenchel along with three other women on the soccer team, Fraley, Caldwell, and Goodyear were honored at the end of the season with awards from the Mid-American Conference with acknowledgments to the entirety of the season- which was a huge honor for these women and Ball State as a whole. These women helped to add the legacy left behind at Ball State in Women's Soccer and some of these women even made history at Ball State. Lexi Fraley became the first player in Ball State Women's Soccer history as the first player to earn MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Juggling the Game and the Classroom

The game of soccer requires immense focus in and out of the game. The players need to be tuned in at all times or one small lapse in focus could cost them greatly. The same goes for off the field.

When talking to some of the women on the team they shared with me what their schedules look like in the beginning to the middle of the season, which seems to be their most busy, and WOW does it take a special kind of person to be able to juggle all of the things they need to do- both as a student and an athlete.

These women on the team are taking full course loads with many if not all of their classes being in person. With each of these classes comes homework and projects and even group assignments. For a person that is JUST a student it takes a lot of work to balance all their classes and the workload that comes with it. For a student who is also an athlete, like these women on the soccer team, it brings on a whole new set of challenges.

As a student athlete these women are participating in team practice multiple times a week as well as putting in extra work in the gym to keep themselves in the best shape possible for the season. These women are also attending classes throughout the week as well; and potentially meeting with others outside of class for group work and projects. In addition to all of this these women are also traveling across the state and to different states for games. It truly is a juggling act when it comes to playing a sport and being an athlete.

Finding the perfect balance between how to manage all of the homework and the demands of the sport are not easily found but these women make it look easy.

Baseball

Schedule and in-season

The normal activity and routine of a college baseball team like the Ball State University baseball team can change upon a particular program, training staff, and season. Practice plan during the season, the team regularly practices a few times each week. Practices can incorporate various exercises, like batting work, handling drills, pitching practice, and molding works. The game schedules teams play a customary schedule of games against other school’s baseball teams. These games can occur on work days and weekends, both at home and away. Strength and conditioning that baseball players participate in are standard strength and conditioning exercises to keep up with their wellness and work on their positions.

Health and Recovery

This incorporates weightlifting, cardiovascular preparation, and dexterity drills. Video films of numerous college baseball teams use film to investigate how a team plays and what are the strengths and weaknesses of their game and how individual players look and play. This assists players and coaches with recognizing game plans that need to be developed to win their games. Food and diet with appropriate nourishment are fundamental for top athletic performance. Teams frequently work with nutritionists to guarantee that players are filling their bodies accurately. Injury anticipation and treatment with athletic coaches are available to assist with anticipating wounds and give treatment for players who get injured. This can incorporate active recuperation, rehabilitating activities, and injury balance programs.

Academics

Class and scholastic responsibilities that student-athletes face are additionally understudies, so they have other academic obligations. They go to classes, review, and keep a specific GPA to stay qualified to contend in baseball. Team gatherings with coaches and players hold normal team gatherings to examine game approaches, study past games, and put forth objectives for what's to come.

Team Aspects and Financing

When the team has away games, they frequently travel together, remaining in hotels and going by bus or plane, depending upon the distance. It's critical to take note that college baseball teams, like other university sports programs, may have varieties in their schedules because of their level (Division I, II, III, and so forth). Plus, many universities have a set spending plan on how much each team can spend in a given season. Additionally, the offseason and preseason schedules might vary from the normal season plan to help get the team ready for the upcoming season or if the team is close to ending the season they might not risk hurting their players, so that they are good for the upcoming season next year

BSU Athletic Reach

In the world of athletics, it is known that sports create and hold cultures together. Here at Ball State University, there isn’t a big emphasis on this aspect of the school. There are multiple ways other universities use their athletics and get the audience interested/involved. Ball State can look at these as ideas or motivation.

Forms of reach are implemented now at BSU

Ball State University Athletics doesn’t do a great job of reaching out and informing students and faculty about events and games. When viewing the university’s website, either from the student's perspective or a parent's perspective, it doesn’t provide a hyperlink or tab to make navigating to athletics easy. On the main page of the website, it shows information about life at Ball State, campus events, and statistics about the university’s faculty-to-student ratio, career placement, etc. The page never shows anything about the university's athletics, unless clicking through the department. On social platforms, the university has different sports teams that manage and run the social accounts but, have yet to see a general account by the department that covers all things athletic related to the university.

Different ways other universities go about their athletics

Looking at other university websites they usually have a module link to their athletics page. Changing the main hub on the page to visually show a tab for athletics could easily make a difference in the reach to faculty and students. As students ourselves, we often go to the Ball State University main page to navigate to library rooms, services, etc. For faculty it is the same, the main page for the university gets a lot of traffic and could be a perfect solution to promote information about athletics. For example, the LSU landing page for their university services has all things about the university including a tab for their athletics.

Media coverage on different platforms

Another thing that could be good for promoting ball state athletics is a social media account that covers all athletics. This platform could provide information about athletic campus events, game days for different sports, coverages on sports, media pictures, updates, etc. Other Instagram pages like Barstool and the other specific sports pages get a lot of attention and clicks because of the following base. If there were to be a general page providing the various information provided it would be ideal for some users to follow to keep up with up-to-date topics. This reach to the student body and faculty is an important element to engage the campus culture as a whole. A majority of individuals in society today spend a lot of time on social platforms, such as; Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. Taking advantage of this opportunity would be crucial to grow the culture at Ball State University.

Other ways Ball State can continue with their Athletic reach

Athletics for universities hold a huge weight for exemplifying school spirit and really bringing a campus together. Another way the athletic department and the college could reach students better is through events at other games. Giving real-time updates on other sports while at a game would interest the crowd to look into other sports even if they only pay attention to one sport they may have the urge to go watch another team play. Including fans during breaks of games such as timeouts, halftime, etc. is a really engaging way to make fans feel included at the events making them want to attend for the opportunity to win something or be acknowledged. One thing the athletic department is doing to change this and get more reach to the student body is bringing in the freshman class and introducing them to the various sports teams and band members. This is something the athletic department is doing to have a better turnout at different events, this simple engagement between the student-athletes and students helped bring more people to games. The interaction isn’t much but just enough to evoke students to show out and be involved in campus life and athletics. There are many different ways for Ball State Athletics to reach these audiences that are targeted including website redeveloping, social media, engagement, and many other options. These ideas need to be implemented to get the results the campus culture is looking for and needs.

A Final Playback

From behind the scenes in the student athlete's life to the impact ball state athletics can make on the culture, the topics discussed hit all of those. Students need to be informed on how much a winning school with winning programs can get the student body engaged with one another on or off campus. Football discusses CARA hours, baseball discusses the balance between travel and work, all the way down to the effort to reach students about events is all important for the campus to understand to achieve a great culture. Check out the different links to each page to learn a more in-depth description of information about the subtopics.