Academics Come First
If you were unable to schedule classes around training, you will be expected to attend class when there is a conflict. It's not uncommon for us to have three or four student-athletes who either miss a training session each week, come late to a session on a specific day or leave early.
When you have a conflict between class and a game, the school considers the game an excused absence. This (typically) means your absence will not be held against you. There are however special circumstances (class field trip, clinicals, etc.) where missing class without detriment to your grades will take more than the general understanding of the school.
Even for excused absences, you will not be excused from classwork. It is fully your responsibility to gather missed notes and complete all coursework.
It is best for you to alert professors to future missed classes at the beginning of the semester and a few days before each absence.
Sample Weekly Training Schedule
Sunday: Day Off
Monday: Training 4:15 - 5:45 (High Intensity)
Tuesday: Training 4:15 - 5:45 (Medium Intensity)
Wednesday: Match
Thursday: Recovery Session 4:15 - 5:15 (Low Intensity)
Friday: Training 4:15 - 5:45 (Medium Intensity)
Saturday: Match
Typical Departure Times
We plan to arrive two hours ahead of our scheduled game time. When determining travel times, we use an online direction service to estimate the trip duration. We sometimes add 15-30 minutes if traveling a longer distance or if we expect to go through a construction zone or high traffic area.
For example, when we play John Carroll at 7:00 p.m., we want to arrive at 5:00. The estimated travel time is approximately two hours and fifteen minutes, so we should leave at 2:45. However, the Cleveland area can sometimes have bad traffic (especially between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.). Since most students have class up to the hour, it makes sense to plan leave at 2:15 since the extra half an hour makes it more likely we won't be late and anyone in class until 2:00 will have time to get to the bus.
Remember the departure times listed on the game schedule can change.
Pre-Game for Home Matches
Before a Home Game, you're expected to be in the locker room, treated, dressed and ready to go by one hour ahead of Kick-Off. If you need treatment from our Training Staff, you need to arrive early enough to ensure you can be helped in time, even if the Training Room is crowded. If you do not account for enough time, running late will be due to your actions, not those of the Training Staff.
Housing Choices
Davis Hall is a popular dormitory for athletes. It's close to the athletic facilities (but furthest from academic buildings and the cafeteria). It's considered a very open dorm, where people commonly stop by other rooms and gather in larger groups.
Mayne Hall is centrally located (next to the cafeteria and just as close to academic buildings as the athletic facilities). This has been the home for Honors Housing and Living Learning Communities recently, but that can change so always confirm this is the case before selecting a dorm. Especially as Honors Housing, this can be a very quiet building.
Hanby Hall is centrally located and has been renovated recently. Clements and Hanby Halls are very popular buildings.
Meal Plans
Students have the choice of loading their Cardinal Card with Meal Swipes or Cardinal Dollars. You can always add more to your account, but unused swipes and dollars do not carry over to the next year. It is typically suggested you choose a medium level plan, and add to that if needed.
Team Related
Training Gear - Players must wear a black Otterbein Soccer shirt to training. Typically this will be a provided training top or purchased item from Team Shop. Players can no longer wear shirts simply because they're related to the campus community (ex. Orientation Leader shirts, bookstore shirts, etc.). You can use any red shorts or socks you own, buy some from our pre-season garage sale, . . . or buy items for our annual Team Shop.
Black Top, Red Shorts, Red Socks
Jersey Number Selection, Apparel Sizing, Locker Selection - Although we do not like to view Freshmen differently from other classes, there are some benefits upperclassmen enjoy. When choosing jersey numbers, lockers (and similar items), the players with the most seniority in the program will choose first. In the case of transfers or players who decide to play later in their career at Otterbein, they will choose with first year players. In following years, they will choose according to their class.
Bus Seating - Recently, players have preferred to sit near the front of the bus. Typically on the bus, younger players should expect to sit closer to the back of the bus. Our chartered buses typically have two rows of two seats going from front to back. Younger players should plan to sit one to a seat leaving two seats for upperclassmen when there are open seats.
When Ordering Food Post-Game - Our Bus Driver and Trainers order first. After that, players can simply get in line as they get off the bus. There is no assigned order.
Conflict Resolution - If you find yourself in need of guidance from coaches and the topic is potentially contentious, please use this form to organize your thoughts before setting up a meeting.
Player Council
Each year, OCWS chooses approximately 5-6 players to represent small groups within the team for weekly meetings. The content of these meetings is typically based on current events within the team. In the past, we discussed how to stop the trend of muscle strains / injuries, . . . our annual charity match and community service, . . . recruit visits, . . . etc. The group however will also discuss when challenges arise inter-personally within the team. It's not uncommon for there to be conflict at times and this group works together to reduce / eliminate issues.
The group is made up of a range of players from different ages, varied contributions to playing time, traditional students and transfers, etc. This is done intentionally to allow players with different levels of comfort with teammates to have someone to talk to when needed. It's not uncommon for a freshman to be intimidated by a Senior in her first few weeks of the Fall Season. Additionally, a Sophomore may be more comfortable to open up to a Junior.