Everybody enjoys having some time to themselves every now and then. Coming home from work and kicking off your shoes to sit back and watch your favorite show, read a nice book or just enjoy time with family and friends is an experience that many can agree is beyond satisfying.
That includes student-athletes.
They are consistently busy people on college campuses, almost constantly facing a practice, game or school work that they must complete. However, there are those times during the offseason and even split moments during the season where they are able to find time to themselves to enjoy the blissful feeling we all call ‘relaxation.’
Senior softball outfielder Olivia Pastin loves going to concerts, junior tennis athlete Alyssa Cameron enjoys spending time at the beach and sophomore men’s swimmer Frank Runge has fun playing football with his friends.
The offseason is a huge staple for many student-athletes.
Pastin has a lot of different hobbies that she enjoys, but she says with her free time she loves to “travel to new places, go to concerts and music festivals, read and exercise.”
The family ties are the biggest reason why these hobbies originated with her. Pastin says that her dad originally took her to see Counting Crows when she was seven years old, marking the first concert she ever went to.
“My dad was the one who took me to concerts when I was younger, and we are still sending each other new music to listen to and finding new bands to enjoy,” Pastin said.
Pastin’s love for exercising also came from the joy of working hard with the ones she loves.
“I started really exercising in high school and for a while, I was doing CrossFit classes before I got injured. It’s fun to workout in different ways than softball training. My sister and I decided together that we were going to start CrossFit classes to help stay in shape and we both loved it,” Pastin said.
While most of her hobbies are not able to be done during the season, fall is the time that Pastin has some time away from softball during the school year to be able to do something fun. She uses that time to continue this love of concerts, and uses it as a source of bonding for her and her teammates.
“Most of my hobbies are off-season things because I spend so much time during the school year studying and playing softball. However, I try to sprinkle in some concerts in the fall when we have more off time,” Pastin explained. “My teammates and I have very similar interests outside of softball. Usually if I want to go somewhere new or see a new band, someone is always down to come with me.”
Like many other music lovers, Pastin has a list of some of her favorite concerts, including one where she was able to see her favorite band, Mt. Joy, play for her 19th birthday. She has made sure to continue a list of concerts she hopes to go to in the future to create even more memories.
“My favorite concert I have ever been to was Mt. Joy at Red Rocks. I also went to the Boston Calling Music Festival and got to see Noah Kahan, the Lumineers and Mt. Joy all in one day and it was amazing,” Pastin said. “One concert I wish I could go to would be the Taylor Swift concert, but tickets are impossible to get. I would totally recommend going to concerts or festivals in your free time. I think it’s a great source of entertainment and I think it’s so special to be able to witness performances from your favorite artists or bands.”
However, not all of Pastin’s hobbies are exclusive to off-season timing, as she finds her time among the busyness of school and sports to have some time to herself. She talked about how she loves to read when she can, as it is a “great escape from the real world” on the long bus rides during the season, naming some of her favorite book series’ being “Detective Alex Cross” and the “Women’s Murder Club” by the acclaimed author James Patterson.
Pastin also loves a good show when she has the chance to sit down and watch it. While she said she tries not to start a show during the season because of her investment on finishing it, she has her go tos of “New Girl,” “Criminal Minds” and “Brooklyn 99.”
“I would suggest all of these to others, especially “New Girl” and “Brooklyn 99” because they are an easy watch and so funny,” said Pastin. “I would recommend “Criminals Minds” to anyone that loves crime shows because it’s so good.”
Pastin talked about the importance of hobbies and finding an identity outside of a sport.
“I think it’s so important to have hobbies outside of softball to enjoy. It can be hard to find an identity outside of your sport when you put so much time toward it,” Pastin explained. “Being able to find passions outside of softball helps so much with burnout and my mental health.”
Alyssa Cameron also connects some of her hobbies, including her love of the beach and the ocean, to early years in life with her family in her hometown of Sydney, Australia.
“It was all I knew when I was younger. I live less than five minutes from the beach, so any chance we get, we like to go to the beach,” Cameron said. “An experience I remember the most was my dad teaching me how to surf when I was three years old.”
While Cameron has shifted to a less oceanic area in Northern Kentucky in a much busier schedule during the tennis season, she continues to find ways to allow her love for the water to travel with her whenever she has the time, making it a goal to swim at least once a week while she is on campus.
“[Whether] it’s a swim, surf [or] a walk on the beach, you name it I’ll be there,” Cameron explained. “A few of my teammates love the ocean, and some of them don’t get to see the ocean as much as I do. But they do love it.”
While Cameron favors her time in the water, her time on dry land is something that she spends happily. She says that she really enjoys shoe shopping, as she loves looking for new shoes. She said that she considers it to be a hobby of hers.
Cameron has also made it a shared tradition with her roommates on the softball team to watch a movie together once or twice a week.
“Some of our favorites are “White Chicks”, “American Assassin” and “White House Down.””
Cameron will find herself watching some shows every once in a while, but has found herself loving “Prison Break” and “Gossip Girl,” stating that she “could not recommend them enough.” Besides these shows though, she does not watch too much TV.
Frank Runge loves the sport that he participates in, but his favorite activity is a sport that is far different than his. Runge said that he loves to play football and run routes with his friends and roommates. However, Runge also said that much of his swim team enjoys playing football too.
“It’s awesome that we have people on the team who all enjoy it, as it helps with our team chemistry,” said Runge.
While this has not been an activity that Runge and others have done together for a very long time, he has had an experience similar to many other kids in their youth. Runge said that he has been playing friendly competitive football with his friends since elementary school when he would go outside for recess.
“My friends at the time got me into it from elementary school and the more I got into football, the more I found myself able to appreciate it,” Runge explained.
He was quick to mention how having favorite hobbies and activities as a student-athlete is vital to staying in a good mental space and especially staying active can be helpful in your own sport.
“It’s a friendly competition that tests your elusiveness, agility, speed and overall athletic ability,” Runge mentioned. “Plus it’s fun to get a little trash talk going if you beat somebody on a route or lock someone up.”
While playing football with friends is fun, sometimes balancing all the activity can be something you want to get away from. Runge enjoys his own relaxing time where he watches videos or games on his phone.
“I personally just scroll through TikTok and Instagram Reels mostly, but I do love watching football. I love watching all teams but always support the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and hope to see a Super Bowl coming in the near future,” Runge said.
Runge also talked about how hobbies outside of being a student-athlete are extremely important to continuing your hard work.
“It creates a better sense of balance in our lives and can help prevent us from getting burnt out,” Runge said. “Having other hobbies allows us to focus on something else other than our respective sport in our free time.”