Friday, April 17, 1998
Not always a walk in the park
WALK-ON: Athletes who aren’t on scholarships face unique
challenges
By Alvin Cadman
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA has been blessed time and time again by the overwhelming
number of athletes recruited out of high school to compete for the
Bruins.
From Ken Norton Jr. to Troy Aikman. From Jackie Joyner-Kersee to
Gail Devers. From Karch Kiraly to Holly McPeak. For every one of
these athletes who went on to perennial greatness and who helped to
define their respective sports of football, track and field, and
volleyball, there is one Gaea Schwaebe.
If you’re searching the UCLA record books for some of her
accomplishments, you won’t find her there yet. If you ask the
athletic department if she is on scholarship here at UCLA, you will
get an answer in the negative.
So, then, who is this athlete that appears at Drake Stadium
every day at 3 p.m. for practice? She is a long distance runner for
the UCLA women’s track and field team. More importantly, she is a
walk-on athlete.
Her status is no different than many of the athletes here at
UCLA. Walk-ons have played major roles in the development of an
athletic program that, coming into this school year, had won a
record 94 national team titles, more than any other school.
Although the adversity that Bruin alumna Jackie Robinson had to
face was beyond anything anyone could imagine, the determination
that a walk-on must have is something to which UCLA’s top athlete
in school history could have related.
"When I came to UCLA, I had hoped to make the track and field
team and compete in the pole vault. But that didn’t work out," says
Schwaebe, a first-year undeclared student. "I was training one day,
and (women’s long distance coach) Peterson asked me to try out. And
I made it."
Walk-ons are technically defined as those athletes not receiving
an athletic scholarship awarded to them by the athletic department
to compete at the intercollegiate level. Their main incentive is to
try to make the team and showcase enough of their athletic skills
to earn a scholarship in the future. Their objective is to play
their sport because they love it, to contribute and to make an
impact on the team.
It is often unknown how some of these gifted athletes are
discovered, says Schwaebe, but they proceed down the road of
competition very quickly.
In one moment, individuals can be working out on the track for
their own physical regimen. In a instant, they have become a
members of one of UCLA’s most successful athletic teams. Yet, they
must work just as hard as those who may have been recruited out of
high school, who have been selected by the university long before
their arrival here to play for the Bruins.
"I know that at this moment, I am working harder than I ever
have in my entire life. It was a shock to me at the types of
workouts we did at the beginning when I first made the team," says
Schwaebe, a 3000 meter runner who, before arriving at UCLA, had
only competed in the pole vault.
"There were days when I thought I was going to die from
exhaustion. But I enjoy the challenge that track brings to an
athlete. As I began to enjoy the sport of running, the workload got
a lot easier."
One of the major adjustments for walk-ons is the level of
competition the athlete must endure – not only from opposing teams
that the Bruins face, but the challenges they must endure daily
within the nucleus of the team.
"The competition is really intense. It is really incredible out
there to compete against my teammates as well as myself. I am
always striving and demanding more out of myself.
"It was very difficult at first. I have never felt like I could
just stop and say, ‘That is the best I can do,’ and stop there. As
a runner, there is always room for improvement, to drop times and
get better every day."
A walk-on is treated the same as any other athlete in the field
of competition because the issue of who has a scholarship goes
undiscussed. But the significance of the issue is important, in
terms of the satisfaction one gets from daily competition. Still,
the desire to succeed for one’s self is a reward unlike any
other.
"You must continue to push yourself. The desire to persevere
must come from within. You must want to succeed very badly. No one
is going to be there for you. It feels like you are all on your
own.
"I always wanted to have a stunt double on those first couple of
days of practice, because I thought I was not going to make it
through. When it never came, I still was able to complete the job
asked of me by coaches and of myself. Looking back, this gives me
the greatest joy and satisfaction."
Walk-ons like Schwaebe must fight emotional battles daily to
continue to act in a professional manner and not get caught up in
the aura of competing for the Bruins. Yet, walk-ons realize how
fortunate they are to be in the position they have earned.
Schwaebe says, "When I walk out onto the track, I just want
someone to pinch me. It is so incredible to be out there at Drake
practicing with the most talented young athletes I have ever
seen.
"I am grateful to have the opportunity to train with them and
excel with them as a member of the team."
Sometimes walk-ons must hurdle other obstacles than the ones
that they face everyday on the athletic field. Schwaebe says that
she looks toward family for inspiration to help her strive to meet
her goals.
"My sister and I are very close. We push each other
competitively in academics and athletics. It helps to know there is
someone behind me that helps to push me right along. I consider her
to be my best friend. She pushes me to excel physically during the
tough times when I want to let my guard down. She inspires me to
work that much harder, to take life here at UCLA one step at a time
and to smile and be happy."
Walk-ons must face the same hardships that every other athlete
must endure. But as a walk-on, an athlete experiences and learns
different things that they apply to their everyday lives.
"I am used to having things such as sports come easily to me. I
have excelled at many of the sports that I choose to get involved
in because of the time and work that I want to put into them.
Working hard will get you what you want. Being a walk-on for the
women’s track team has given me the opportunity to learn a lot of
patience."
A walk-on is no different than any other athlete. Their goals
are the same. Like many of her teammates, Schwaebe hopes to compete
well at the Pac-10 Championships one day and eventually go to the
NCAA Championships.
She says that if she earned that opportunity it would be one of
her proudest moments.
Schwaebe, like so many other walk-on athletes, will be content
with the simple things.
"I love the friendships that I have made on the team, and the
feeling of independence when I run."
She was also quick to add, "I also love the free shoes."
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
As a walk-on athlete, Gaea Schwaebe is an integral part of a
UCLA sports tradition.