Chrissy Lewis, a recent college graduate, understands both the sacrifices and rewards of being a student-athlete.

Playing both field hockey and rugby while at Vassar College, Lewis remembers vividly the hours spent on the bus traveling, on the field practicing for games, in the locker room recovering, and finally in the classroom studying.

Lewis only planned to play one sport in college. Her love for the game swayed her to play two, which meant twice as much travel and twice as much practice.

“The average student-athlete has roughly six hours free time a week,” Lewis said. “That forces you to become a master multi-tasker and use the time you have more efficiently.”

Students like Lewis who thrive athletically and academically should be recognized for their commitment and dedication to their sports and the academics, said Dr. Roger Caves, professor and director of the graduate city planning program at San Diego State during a seminar session Thursday at the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s national conference.

During the session, a panel of athletic administrators, students and faculty discussed strategies for recognizing student athletes.

“Walk a mile in their shoes. See them get up at 5 a.m. and go to the track or the pool, shower, eat breakfast, meet with their academic advisers, tutors, attend classes and so on,” said Caves, playfully noting that he would walk a mile in the shoes of a student-athlete if he could begin at 10 a.m. instead of 5 a.m.

Acknowledging the tremendous dedication of student-athletes who endure severe time constraints and, in some case, tremendous pressure to perform, is a practice administrators and faculty should be engaged in year-round, said Becky Ahlgren-Bedics, associate director of education services for the NCAA.

Small tokens of appreciation and recognition illustrate a type of support that is not always felt or verbalized by faculty, student-athletes participating on the panel noted.