You won’t have any trouble finding them on campus.

These people have a certain aura that makes them hard to miss. Their beaming sense of pride that comes with representing their university through sport accompanies their selective wardrobe of East Bay athletic clothing that has become quite predictable in their daily routine.

Beneath their traditional red, black and white apparel, however, is a tired CSU East Bay athlete.

A full day of classes are accompanied by hours of practice and weight room training, ultimately taking its toll on these student-athletes who continue their juggling act throughout the week.

What many fail to realize when brushing shoulders with these athletes is that their hectic schedule, well, gets more hectic.

Amidst their weekly routine on campus, student-athletes partake in weekend-long road trips, via bus or plane, forcing them to commit physically and mentally to pre-season and CCAA competitions.

When the weekend of traveling comes to a close, East Bay student-athletes get chartered back to the university just in time to begin the weekly grind of classes where they are asked to maintain a 2.6 GPA.

The men’s and women’s soccer programs are just two of several teams on this campus that have withstood daunting road schedules with six straight away games this past season.

The men’s and women’s basketball programs control the sporting landscape on campus in the winter. They do so with their own rigorous schedules, more specifically with the men’s team who has encountered three separate four straight road trips in the 2012-2013 campaign.

Though daunting, coaches and peers continue to be there for student-athletes to provide encouragement and perspective throughout the traveling process.

Junior goalkeeper Bryce Bookhamer of the men’s soccer team told The Pioneer that his coaches are very interested in helping student-athlete’s academic careers.

“Our coaches for soccer are very involved,” Bookhammer said. “My coaches have actually come to meetings with me and my teachers and always stress to get your school work done first and try to get our schedules so we don’t miss any class for when we have soccer.”

Few people understand the rigors of travel for student-athletes like men’s head soccer coach Andy Cumbo. Being a former collegiate soccer player at SUNY-Plattsburgh himself, Cumbo insists that life on the road for a student-athlete is just as hard mentally as it is physically.

“Road trips can be extremely challenging on a student-athlete,” Cumbo said. “Outside of the normal emotions experienced for competition, competing on the road presents a lot more challenges.”

Amidst these difficulties, Cumbo has been pleased with the cooperation of CSUEB faculty.

“CSUEB instructors and professors have been extremely supportive of our student-athletes,” he adds.

Paralleling the same schedule of the men’s soccer team is the women’s soccer team who, has experienced their own hardships on the road.

According to head coach Amy Gerace, the effects of their six back-to-back road games were inevitable.

“There is a change in them between the time when they are in session and out of session,” Gerace said. “They are more fatigued which means their bodies need more recovery time between studying and games.”

Gerace elaborates on an atmosphere where every player helps one another complete assignments, creating a bond amongst teammates.

“I think they learn so much,” Gerace professed. “I’ve watched them for three years now and to watch them grow throughout these hardships is something special.”

An athlete who has learned a great deal from these road trips is Kenneth Farr. As a junior liberal studies major on the men’s basketball team, Farr credits his maturation as a student to the traveling experience.

“My biggest thing is that I manage my time a lot better,” Farr said. “I try to get as much done as I can as far as homework and school work before we even leave on the trip.”

A structure of organization comes in form of an itinerary. During weekends of Friday and Saturday games back-to-back, these schedules are given to players to help road trips move smoothly, a tool that has proven valuable to Farr and his teammates.

“Itineraries are perfect for someone like me,” Farr said. “It is good to look over it the day before you leave and see what is all going to go on so you can plan when you can squeeze in certain assignments.”

Through every assignment completed on a plane or in a seat of a bumpy charter bus, Farr and his teammates ultimately appreciate the opportunity to represent their school as an athlete, putting the experience of the road trips in perspective.

“It does get really stressful,” Farr admits. “But it is nice to get away every once in a while which helps me and my teammates move forward into what you have coming up next as far as school and anything else is concerned.”

The road trips will continue for Farr and other student-athletes and with this continuation is the growth of a complete individual. Though taxing, their ability to manage stressful academic assignments on the road is a testament to how these student-athletes are preparing for future challenges in the classroom and later in life.