Professor Damian Stocking of Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture (CSLC) is a former athlete. Stocking said he broke the two-minute half mile at 15 years old and almost competed for the University of California Berkeley track team. However, according to Stocking, he ultimately decided to stop running competitively due to various reasons, including injuries as well as the mental reasons of competitive sports.
“The narrowness part of running that I first approached it with, I deeply regret,” Stocking said. “I think that this is implicit in being a young athlete. People want you to perform, and I think that there are a lot of exterior pressures, and I didn’t know how to stand against them. There was so much agony around it, spiritual angst and I didn’t know how to enjoy it for itself.”
Stocking said that he ended up being grateful for his injuries because they forced him to see a life outside of running.
At a division III college like Occidental where there are no sports scholarships, it’s not unusual for a student to quit a sport. According to a 2019 article by The Coaching Educator, 15 percent of college students with athletic scholarships quit their sport while in school.
Gieselle Gatewood (senior) quit the Occidental women’s volleyball team in the spring of their sophomore year.
“Volleyball was a 20-hour commitment, which is a lot of time to dedicate to something when you’re not getting paid for it and you’re not even winning,” Gatewood said. “It’s like, ‘What are we doing?’”
Gatewood said that after a few specific and impactful moments, they made the difficult decision to quit volleyball. Gatewood joined the Occidental club rugby team, which has since then been an essential part of her college experience.
“Rugby is just such a great, inclusive space,” Gatewood said. “And I think one thing with volleyball was that, in the moment, I was one of like two queer people on the team. Rugby is such a predominantly queer space where you can choose to move your body in any way. You put in what you want and it’s not like you’re forced to do anything.”
Elizabeth Reedy* (sophomore) is another athlete who left her collegiate sport behind. Reedy swam for Occidental’s women’s swimming and diving team in 2022, the fall of her first year and quit that same winter.
Reedy said that competing with the swim team was a large part of her college decision-making process. According to Reedy, she was unable to find supportive resources when she needed them the most when she swam at Occidental.
“I was trying to get used to life as a freshman, 1,000 miles away from my family. It was really hard. And being on an athletics team in general made it more difficult, but that’s what I signed up for. But then it all started to get a little too much,” Reedy said.
Both Gatewood and Reedy said that quitting their respective sports also helped open up other aspects of their lives.
“Quitting definitely made me just a happier person, and I feel like I can get up every day and not have to dread going to practice or dealing with a coach that I know doesn’t want to help me succeed,” Reedy said. “My mindset is kind of shifting about what I’m able to do here. And it’s opened up a lot of academic opportunities, but also just being able to be happier and talk to people more and make new friends.”
Gatewood said they remembered waking up every morning grateful to have the 20 extra hours each week to focus on both schoolwork and an on-campus job.
Stocking said that leaving track gave him a life he didn’t expect.
“I left the physics major to do English literature and Greek literature and it felt new and fresh and I was good. And I understood what I was doing. In some ways, I never understood what I was doing in competitive track and for me leaving it was connected to a commitment to a different love,” Stocking said.
According to Stocking, he is now unable to run for long periods of time due to a heart condition. Stocking said that he is still grateful for his track experience because it taught him how to commit himself to something wholeheartedly.
“I just wish that I understood that there are a wider range of things that one can commit themselves to, that would have helped,” Stocking said. “I think it’s great to commit your heart and soul to a sport like that. I think the experience of committing yourself absolutely to something is magnificent.”
Reedy said that younger athletes who are considering quitting a collegiate sport should take time to think about every aspect of their lives.
“Really look at all of that and see if the sport you want to do in college or just in general would be an addition because your life is already full and sustained,” Reedy said. “You don’t need anything else or if it is a substitute to make someone else happy. That’s what I tried to do, to make other people happy. So, look at every aspect of your life, every part of it that you can think of and think — would that sport be a healthy addition, or would it be a substitution for something else?”
Gatewood said that they are proud of their decision to quit and said that she encourages young athletes to continue grappling with their personal decisions.
“It’s so much better on the other side, and I am so proud of my younger self for trying to push through,” Gatewood said. “I know that was a battle that I had to go through but also, I’m so proud of myself for making that final decision. So, if something is not serving you, you will rock at whatever you choose to do. There is an amazing life afterward.”
Contact Nora Youngelson at youngelson@oxy.edu.
*Elizabeth Reedy worked as a staff writer for The Occidental.
