When you are a division one athlete, you are under a microscope whether you are aware of it or not.
You are expected to represent your university and your program with the utmost integrity. In the era of social media, everything you do and say can be seen by the entire world. So, every decision you make on and off the ice must be calculated because your decisions affect you and your university.
Carson Briere, son of Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere, is a hockey player at Mercyhurst University who pushed a woman’s wheelchair down a flight of stairs at a bar in Erie, Pennsylvania, back in March. Carson is now being charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. Following the incident, Carson issued an apology statement.
These types of incidents, where athletes are getting in trouble with the law, are far too common in collegiate athletics. If you listen, watch or read the news on college athletics, there is almost always a story about an athlete getting in trouble with the law.
There are a lot of temptations and distractions in college, and it can be very hard for college athletes to stay on a straight and narrow path. Student athletes have a lot going on with school and their sport, and sometimes they let loose. But it is important to remember that you’re still representing something much larger than yourself when you let loose.
As a fellow division one hockey player, you hate to see incidents like this in the news because it hurts people’s views on hockey culture and on division one athletes. It’s obvious to realize what Carson did was wrong, and based on his statement he seems to know it too. This incident is a learning experience for him and for other hockey players and athletes around the country.
As a student athlete for Ferris State, this is the microscope I speak of. We student athletes must realize that we are representing something much bigger than ourselves. We are representing our family, our teammates, our coaches and, most important of all, our university.
You never want to put a stain on the university due to incidents that occur off the ice, field or court. Our goal should be to uplift our team and university to new heights and leave this place better than we found it.
Everyone makes mistakes, and what Carson did was a big mistake. I would hate to see a lapse of judgement end his collegiate hockey career, but in the world we live in, your actions can result in your privilieges being stripped away from you at any moment. Every action you take can move you forward or set you back, and you must be able to make smart decisions because they will affect your future.
As student athletes, we must learn from Carson’s mistake. We must understand that our actions affect things much more than us as an individual, and we want to make sure we represent our university in the best way possible.