You cannot be serious!

Why so serious? That’s what I’d like to ask all the Leeds Uni athletes who train every day in the gym.

Is it worth sacrificing time you could spend working on your degree on running up and down a field, kicking a ball and looking manly? Is that really going to get you a top job at the end of uni? Unless you’re that good and become pro, or have millionaire parents, it seems unlikely.

I hear people saying “we play for the enjoyment”, but is it really enjoyable venturing out to the gym on a wet and windy evening in the winter just because you ‘have to train’… Does that not strike you as a little too serious to be enjoyable? Especially when the seriousness of your sport means that you have to follow a diet plan and can’t eat what you want or drink what you want.

Uni sport is seriously overrated. So much commitment and hard work, but what are you really getting out of it? A great body. Ok, I’ll give you that. But is it worth falling out with flatmates and friends because you never have any time for them?

A degree should require 40% of your attention (if you want to pass), but then there’s the intensive training schedule, compulsory socials, seeing your boy/girlfriend and mates, time for eating and sleeping (essential!), doing your washing and ironing (less essential!). You are left with approximately 15% of available attention to focus on your degree. Something’s gotta give.

What do I suggest? Have a good old-fashioned kick around or go on a casual run through Hyde Park with a friend (but only in the daytime). That’s great news for your social life. You can have a proper catch-up and burn off all those alcohol-induced calories, without all the crazy training schedules and vulgar laddish behavior. In the meantime, you could do that reading that you put off and perhaps you’ll scrape that 2:1 or even a 1st, without any scrapes or injuries of the sporting nature. Brilliant.