No time for jersey chasers
A look into the jersey chasing phenomena and why a student-athlete's dating life can be difficult and misunderstood
Illustration by Becka Cremer
By Katie Moyer, Jayplay writer
KU basketball player Jeff Hawkins walks into a bar on a Saturday night with some teammates. He looks forward to a night out with the guys as they relax after a tough workout. A girl approaches him from across the room. You can almost see the basketballs in her eyes as she smiles slyly at the KU guard. Hawkins, Kansas City senior, waits patiently for her to speak as she does her best to act innocent."Wanna have sex?"she asks bluntly.Yep, you gotta love those jersey chasers.
Being a student-athlete in the wide world of dating has its advantages, one of which could be argued are jersey chasing, which seems to make hooking up effortless. According to the online Urban Dictionary, a "jersey chaser" is loosely defined as someone who only goes for athletes. This term can be subdivided into particular sports. Lacrostitutes, for example, set their sights on lacrosse players. Here at the University, basketball players are popular targets for jersey chasers, as Hawkins has witnessed time and time again.
Hawkins says that he can always tell when a girl is approaching him only because he plays on the basketball team. "I'm ugly, so when girls come up to me I know it has to be the jersey!" Hawkins says modestly. "Some just flat out say they want to have sex and others will be polite and try to hold a conversation."
Aside from jersey chasers, the real advantage that athletes have is simply the effect that the college sports experience has on an athlete. Higher confidence and a larger social network are both factors that make it easier for athletes to meet new and interesting people. But even when an athlete does find a match, the disadvantages come into play. Athletes have a time commitment that would interfere with any relationship. Their duties include not only those of the average college student, but also practice, weights and competition.
Like Hawkins, Tyler Docking, Overland Park senior and member of the KU men's golf team, has encountered a couple jersey chasers in his-day. He says that a couple years back, seven of the 13 guys on the golf team hooked up with the same girl. He smiles embarrassingly and says, "It was kind of the team joke that semester." Docking denies being one of the seven who had fallen victim to the jersey chaser whose name remains anonymous.
Docking says that although he has scored a couple dates because a girl approached him after a previous tournament earned him news coverage, or even because the girl's father was impressed by his golfing game, it's more than just a status thing. "It definitely gets you more attention than you normally would," he says, "but I'm so much outgoing since I started playing. That's a big part of it."
Matt Thompson, KU offensive lineman and Missoula, Mont., senior, says that he agrees completely. He points at the confidence factor as the main reason athletes may find dating easier than others. This may put them at an advantage, however, athletes also face the challenge of time management. Thompson deals with balancing school, football and his love life. But he manages, saying that he always finds time after
practice for his lady.
Sometimes it's impossible to date during the school year, Kristy Hainer says. Hainer, Ontario, Can. senior, is a member of the women's rowing team and says that between practice in the morning, class, another practice, schoolwork at night and traveling on the weekends there just isn't enough time.
Docking spends up to 35 hours a week on the golf course practicing. Docking, an engineering student, is enrolled in 12 hours this semester and usually studies outside of class a couple of hours each day. Other than being well over the equivalent of a full-time job, this hectic but normal student-athlete schedule leaves little time for dating. For Docking, the dating season is during the summer, when he goes on an average of one to two dates a week.
Hawkins says that his past relationships were difficult because he is always busy, and girls don't always understand that sometimes he would rather just relax than go out after four hours of practice and weight training. Trailing off as he speaks, he says that if he could just find an understanding girl, it could work.
For some athletes, though, it's simpler to just date another athlete. It could best be described as a comparison to celebrities. Often celebrities only date other celebrities because they are the
only people who truly understand the industry and its demands. The same goes for college athletes.
Becca Zarazan, South Lake, Texas senior, just finished her last semester as a KU swimmer. She says she has dated other athletes because she knows that they have common interests and they understand the demands of each other's hectic lifestyles. "It's natural to be attracted to the people who are in your same situation," Zarazan says.
The trend of athletes dating athletes is everywhere.Docking refers to one of his teammates whose girlfriend is on the KU women's golf team as an example. Another athletic duo was basketball player J.R. Giddens and volleyball player Josi Lima.Hawkins says that he has not dated another athlete, but ponders the question for a moment and says that maybe he should because he understands what athletes go through.
So all you jersey chasers listen up. You know who you are. The next time your radar zones in on an athlete keep three things in mind. One, offering sex right off the bat could make you seem easy, to put it nicely. Two, he might already be taken by another athlete who understands his needs better than you. And three, he might just not have any time for you.
09. 08.05 Jayplay
9