By Bryn Lutz, Athletics Communications Fellow

DAVIS, Calif. - In the program's latest example of uncommon engineering, the team will conduct its spring workouts from Feb. 15-March 10 to provide student-athletes with an opportunity to study abroad. By scheduling off-season practices accordingly, the team will now have an entire quarter available to take full advantage of opportunities rarely presented to football programs at any level, let alone Division I.

The core of today's collegiate athletics is ruled by a `winning mentality', which means student-athletes are asked to eat, sleep, and breathe their craft. As a result, the day-by-day schedule of a D-I football player is perhaps as intense and demanding now as it has ever been before. With so much time and energy sacrificed to achieve success on the field, it has become more and more challenging for student-athletes to pursue other passions outside of sports, such as studying abroad, due to scheduling conflicts.

Befitting an individual who coached for 18 different international football teams throughout his career, UC Davis head coach Dan Hawkins is setting a new precedent for Aggie football. Beginning with redshirt junior offensive lineman Ramsey Hufford, the first Aggie to take advantage of this newly-created opportunity to study abroad, football student-athletes will now become part of UC Davis' 1,350-plus undergraduates who gain an international perspective in more that 40 countries, and diverse areas of studies.

A religious studies major out of Newport Beach, Calif., Hufford first became interested in the prospect of studying abroad during his high school years, and has already visited Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Canada, where he holds dual citizenship.

• Read full article at UC Davis Aggies.

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