While it may sound trite, varsity athletes at George Brown College aren't just athletes. They're student-athletes.

The student part of that Huskies role isn't secondary, or even a co-equal. Academics come first and foremost, a message central to the Athletics Academic Start-Up Workshop.

"You can come here and play sports for three, four, five years, but if you don't leave here with an actual diploma or certificate of some sort, we've failed you," manager of athletics and recreation Melanie Gerin-Lajoie declared during the workshop's introduction.

Over the course of two hours, varsity athletes were presented with a wide range of resources and supports available to them. Aside from athletics department staff, representatives from the Tutoring and Learning Centre, Counselling Services, and the Black Student Success Network, to name a few, spoke of the services they provide. The diverse list of items mentioned included everything from bursary applications to therapy dog visits.

"I found out a lot of things I didn't know before," men's basketball athlete Auns Chaudhry said after the workshop, specifically highlighting the Career Services presentation. "I've been here for two years; I expected to know the majority of it already. But there's a lot of new stuff I learned, helping tools I'm looking forward to using throughout the year."

The goal isn't for student-athletes to simply keep their heads above water. It's to have an ongoing, positive conversation with them so that they might excel off the field of play to the greatest degree possible.

One crucial aspect of this, a distinction from years prior, is starting that conversation early.

"This year, the big difference is we're getting to student-athletes before school starts, versus waiting two, three weeks, a month in to have separate academic or team meetings," said Gerin-Lajoie. "We're trying to get this in before the semester starts, to give them information early so that they have all the resources, or at least the knowledge of the resources available before everything becomes hectic."

Presenters throughout the workshop encouraged student-athletes to make use of the resources offered, services which students have already paid for through their tuition fees. Another key theme was the importance of communication, of athletes making themselves known to professors, program coordinators, etc.

Of course, the process of making oneself known is a two-way street, something athletics department staff are acutely aware of. "Because I'm new, a lot of times, student-athletes aren't looking to me for help yet," athletics and recreation coordinator Mark Couch observed.

The relatively recent addition to George Brown's athletics department has a simple and foundational strategy to bridging that gap. "Just be that familiar face, to gain that trust," said Couch. "They've got to be able to trust that we're here to help them, that we're working for them to get them to their end goals of graduation and career success."

Trust is a word often heard in sports. Trust in one's teammates, in one's coaches, in the system, the list goes on. And especially in an athletic setting, there's one more spoke on the wheel of student-athlete success worth emphasizing.

"I think veterans play a huge role," said Gerin-Lajoie. "Coming in as a first year student here, especially as a rookie, you need people to look up to and the students who have been around the block once or twice, they know the ins and outs... they're someone that understands what our student-athletes are going through because they've lived it themselves."

As one of those vets, knowledge through lived experience and connections was an idea Chaudhry readily concurred with. "I know how the system works already, where to get help, who to talk to, friends here and there," he said. "I know people that have already taken the courses others are now taking, and some courses I've taken, so I can help them in that situation."

The returnee also spoke of the importance of sharing little tips here and there, including one occasion varsity athletes will face throughout the season.

"Start early on some projects when you have time off, like when we're on the road to a game, do some homework there," he suggested. "You're not doing anything anyways, so do homework or projects."

The Athletics Academic Start-Up Workshop continues on Thursday, with discussions on both stress management and time management, as well as presentations from Peerconnect.