Arrival Day: The First Day of Freshman Camp
Posted by
Doug Datish on 8/14/2013
My first true experience as an Ohio State Buckeye was arrival day my freshman year for training camp. I was nervous, excited, and to be honest, a little scared. I grew up watching the Buckeyes play and was fulfilling my dream, but I had seen what my future teammates were capable of during the previous three seasons while I was in high school and I was unsure of how I was going to stack up.
The major part of the anxiety comes from the fear of the unknown. Most people never find themselves aboard the freight train that is Ohio State Football. I say train because when you arrive at camp, you can either get on the train or stay put. Either way, the train will leave the station and if you gave up your seat, someone else will be on the train to replace you. Mind you, that is with all aspects here, not just football. The same goes for academics, social opportunities, team-building, etc. As a blue-collar kid from Howland, OH, I was never exposed to anything like this before, and I was in for a wild ride.
You start by driving to a designated place to stay. At my first camp we stayed at a building on campus right across from the Woody Hayes Center, this would be where we ate as well. As you begin to check in you see new people and meet new teammates. Your introductions with new teammates are cut short as you are bombarded with information shortly after your arrival. You sign 500 documents (not sure what those were), you get a schedule/itinerary (and wow is that thing detailed), and then you’re off to try and find your room. My favorite part was seeing the coaches for the first time. Up to this point the coaches have done nothing but spoil you rotten with praise; you have only seen them in “recruiting mode.” Now that they have managed to win the recruiting battle for your young, athletic self, you are all theirs for the next four to five years. They no longer have to sell you. This doesn’t mean they now can treat you like dirt, but it seems like a bit of false advertising going into the whole deal. However, as you get older you realize that it is part of the game. Coaches need to break down young guys so that they can mold them into the types of players they want. If the coaches kept treating you like you were being recruited, the result would be a team full of entitled, self-praising individuals running around without a collective purpose; and I doubt you would win a game.
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