By J1 Reporter Meredith Britson 

Every day, Marian’s well-loved PE teachers inspire athletes wanting to continue their athletic career in college. 

Mrs. Beth Dye, PE teacher and Student Board moderator, played multiple college sports. Her impressive athletic career motivates future high school athletes to continue playing.

The 20+ sports offered in colleges give opportunities for many dedicated athletes to shine. 

Dye played both basketball and tennis at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She said she spent “at least 6-8 hours a week for pre-season basketball, 12-15+ hours a week during the season, and at least 6 – 8 hours a week postseason.” 

In the pre-season, her time was spent in the weight room, doing group workouts, scrimmages, and agility workouts. During the season, Dye nearly doubled the time dedicated to her sport. Although basketball took up more time, Dye still dedicated more than 12 hours a week to tennis. 

As middle schoolers, many children have dreams of playing college sports. They can imagine themselves in college jerseys, playing on television for everyone to see and making money while doing what they love. As those children grow older and start playing high school sports, they soon realize the dedication, time, and physical toll it takes to play a sport in high school and college. 

Although high school sports are hard, college sports are more competitive, more demanding, and more time consuming. All these aspects combined can be overwhelming. Participating in sports while keeping up on homework is a hidden challenge for many student-athletes. 

Mr. B.J. Christiansen, PE teacher and swim coach, attended University of Wyoming as a college swimmer and he said, “It’s definitely a big time commitment and you are essentially working for them because they have a lot of rules to follow and they have practices at certain times.” He also added, “there were both downsides and perks to playing a college sport.”

Student-athletes only have 24 hours in a day to fit in time for weights and conditioning, homework and studying, eating and sleeping, and if they are lucky, time for themselves to regroup and focus on keeping up with their mental health. 

Although college athletes spend the majority of their time training and conditioning, the sweat and pain was worth it for many. Some words of advice from Dye are to “enjoy your time because it goes super fast and they will be some of the greatest years of your life.” 

Dye continued her love for sports by coaching tennis and basketball at Marian. Now as a PE teacher, she inspires students and athletes alike to eat healthily, take care of themselves, and pursue athletic opportunities outside of school. 

Christiansen is a swim coach at Marian. He led his team to the championship and came home with a state title. Several of his swimmers have continued their love for swimming into college including Katy Foley and Josie Hood.