Eight Hillsdale football players earned honors for excellence on and off the field. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale Chargers football team placed the maximum number of players on the College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-District Team this 2023 season.
This season, eight players qualified for the All-District team, including seniors Garrit Aissen, Trevor DeGroote, Drew Ransom, and Sam Zemis, along with juniors Ben Affholter, Bart Bixler, Ty Williams, and Riley Tolsma. The CSC All-America program recognizes athletes with outstanding athletic and academic abilities.
According to head football coach Nate Shreffler, the CSC All-District Team recently changed their criteria to include a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and being a starter in at least 60% of the games or playing in at least 90% of the games.
Thirty players met the GPA criteria this fall according to Shreffler. He said the football coaches have high standards for the team, which the players fully embrace.
“This past semester we had a 3.26 team GPA and saw 83/117 achieve a 3.0 GPA or higher,” Shreffler said.
Shreffler said to optimize performance and maximize potential, the players must become accustomed to doing difficult things well.
“I believe Hillsdale does that, on and off the field, better than anyone else,” Shreffler said.
In addition to attending study tables, Shreffler said the freshmen meet every two weeks with the coaching staff to track their progress throughout the fall.
“Most of our student-athletes will take advantage of the writing center and meet with professors as needed,” Shreffler said.
According to Shreffler, getting off to a strong start freshman year is key in setting successful habits for the rest of their academic careers.
“I can’t speak to what other student-athletes at other schools go through, but I do know that we have some of the toughest admission requirements in the country and our students are challenged every day on campus,” Shreffler said.
Ransom said Hillsdale’s high academic standards make achieving this feat nearly impossible without careful planning.
“Time management is an absolute necessity. With nearly 20 hours per week dedicated to football, you have to plan ahead and even sacrifice other activities,” Ransom said. “It’s hard, but the program’s emphasis on excellence in the classroom means we get all the help we need from our coaches too.”
Affholter said finding time to complete schoolwork during the season can be difficult, making for some late nights after practice, but the program framework supports the team well.
“We have study tables for the freshmen and other guys who are struggling, but do grade checks with everyone periodically to ensure we stay on top of things,” Affholter said.
He also said he meets with the Director of Academic Services Christy Maier weekly to help manage his studies.
Maier said she loves working with football players to help them achieve academic success.
“I have multiple football players who meet with me weekly,” Maier said. “We discuss the challenges of the week, set goals, and identify strategies to help them achieve their goals. Then, the weekly check-ins also establish accountability.”
Maier said these challenges aren’t unique to student-athletes, but they are intensified by the time constraints they face.
“I think the greatest obstacle varies from person to person,” Maier said. “For some people, it’s time management; for others, it’s perfectionism; for others, it’s overcoming fear and self-doubt.”
Many of the program’s coaching staff understand this delicate balance well, since many are Hillsdale alumni themselves, making their support consistent and top-tier, Ransom said.
“They are extremely flexible with any school-related conflicts, schedule frequent grade and mental wellness checks, and provide several tools for help with assignments such as a writing lab during daily study tables,” Ransom said. “Most of the staff has experienced a Hillsdale education and understand the difficulty of fully alternating one’s focus between school and athletics, so they help us in any way they can.”
The CSC will announce the 2023 Academic All-American winners on Jan. 23, 2024, selecting from the pool of All-District honorees.
