The heavy demands on student-athletes are well-documented, if not always well-understood by those outside the world of intercollegiate sports.

But if the saying about never judging a man (or woman) until you've walked a mile in his shoes is anywhere near true, then Chadron State College student-athletes can be confident that Faculty Athletics Representative Robert Stack is well-acquainted with their shoe size.

Stack, an associate professor and chair of the mathematical sciences department, draws liberally from his own experiences at the University of South Dakota, where he juggled teaching, coaching, completing a Ph.D and raising a family.

Stack's odyssey began in the fall of 1994 when he accepted a position as an instructor in the math department and as an assistant baseball coach at South Dakota. A reasonable load, certainly, but by the spring semester of 1995, his responsibilities had begun to grow significantly.

In late January 1995, the head baseball coach for the Coyotes stepped down and Stack was promoted in his place. In an effort to earn extra money, Stack also took on additional work teaching at area community colleges. That summer, he also began his doctoral coursework.

"I really had no idea that I was going to take classes until the spring of 1995 when I basically learned that there was not going to be a permanent position that would allow me to earn more money unless I got a Ph.D in mathematics," Stack said.

The nearest school offering a doctorate in that field was the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"I had two children at that time. I certainly wasn't going to take time out, and it would probably have taken five or more years to get that degree. With two kids, I needed to make some money," Stack said.

Instead, he decided to pursue a degree in curriculum instruction at South Dakota, where he already had picked up his bachelor's and master's degrees.

Stack said that during the fall semester, he typically would take nine hours, and his course load in the spring semester depended on the offerings. And because the rugged South Dakota winters sometimes made it difficult to play outside during baseball season, practice wouldn't start until around 10 p.m., when the campus indoor facility closed.

"I'd teach, go home to spend some time with the family and then go to practice," said Stack. "I'd get home about 12:30 or 1 a.m., then start all over the next day."

Through it all, Stack said the most difficult part of maintaining such a demanding schedule was being away from his family.

"I know my wife didn't like that a whole lot, especially when I was on the road," he said.

But there were good memories as well. One, according to Stack, was when the team earned an appearance in the conference playoffs in 1997.

"We went into the last weekend of conference play and we needed a split with Augustana (South Dakota) to go to the playoffs. We were playing on their home field and we swept them," he said.

Although Stack never had a winning season at South Dakota, his team's grade-point average was second among all men's sports at the school. Before he took over, the baseball program was second from the bottom in GPA rankings.

Stack moved to Chadron State in 1998 and has served as faculty athletics representative there for the past four years. Looking back, he said never really considered giving up coaching or putting his schooling on hold.

"I don't think there was any thought about doing that. We knew the money wasn't there, but I think my wife understood that this was something I wanted to do," he said.

Although Stack admits that part of his motivation for maintaining such a punishing pace was financial, that wasn't the whole story.

"The other part was just looking at where I wanted to go," he said. "My aspirations were to be able to teach and coach at the college level."

The chance to influence young people also kept Stack going.

"When we were practicing, I was the one with the most energy on the field," he said. "(The players) realized I was taking classes -- that I was a student just like they were. Being their head coach, they saw the amount of energy it took to be successful, not only in baseball, but in other things, too."

Stack believes wholeheartedly that his experiences at South Dakota have been an asset to him. He said one of the most valuable lessons he has learned is the amount of work it takes to be able to teach students mathematics.

"Being able to relate that to them and understand more fully what difficulties students are going through has been beneficial," he said.

Stack earned tenure at Chadron State this year and also received a campus teaching award.