Ben DeMeulenaere

Collegiate Career

• What advice do you have for current high school athletes who hope to make it to the next level? Work hard in everything you do and get exposure through social media and camps. Being from a small school, doing this would have helped me significantly in the recruiting process. Additionally, participating in multiple sports has dramatically helped me develop once I arrived at college.

• How’d you end up at your current school?What was the recruiting process like?I followed my brother to play at Central College. He was a year older than I was, and the recruiters had been in contact with me since my junior year. My recruiting process was straightforward. Central was my main focus from the start, but I also visited Mount Mercy for basketball. I did not use social media or attend camps to get my name out, which limited my options and opportunities for college football.

• What do you consider to be one of the more important things youlearned from the coaching staff?Our staff instills a hard-working mentality in everything we do. On defense, we emphasize being the fastest, toughest, and most tireless players on the field. This mentality has significantly improved my ability to play at a fast pace and compete in every rep.

 

• What would you consider to be your biggest accomplishment in your sports career so far? In 2024, our defense achieved the lowest points allowed per game in all of Division III.

 

• What is your Major, and what do you hope to accomplish in your post-athletic career? I am currently on track to graduate with a Business Administration major and a minor in accounting. For my post-athletic career, I plan to pursue commercial real estate brokerage, which I was able to gain exposure in this past summer through an internship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During this career, I plan to build my own real estate portfolio and be one of the best in the area, creating a stable career to support my family.

Performance & Training

• Can you walk us through a typical training day during the season and off-season? An in-season day consists of film study, practice, weight training, and maintaining my body health. We lift in the morning, followed by film study with position groups between classes, practice in the afternoon, and seeking treatment, stretching, and getting good nutrition throughout the day to stay healthy, keeping my performance at its best. Off-season days this past spring and summer were heavily focused on weight, speed, and conditioning training. During the summer, I trained after work, following Central’s Summer Strength and Conditioning packet, which would have either a speed or conditioning workout with weight training as well. I also did position work after my workouts to continue improving my cornerback technique to be prepared for the season. This is also an important time for me to focus on gaining muscle mass while keeping my speed, which I have done through dieting and utilizing protein supplements.

• How do you mentally prepare for high-stakes games or competitions? I keep my approach and mentality consistent for competitions to prevent overcompensating for tougher opponents. This allows me to play with calm, collected emotions in competition and helps me focus on my responsibilities and techniques that I’ve practiced many times throughout the game.

• What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your athletic career, and how did you overcome it? Last season, I lost a rep against a receiver in overtime, which resulted in a loss. I learned to overcome this obstacle through continuing to work during practices and implementing positive self-talk and thoughts during games. Telling myself “trust” reminded me to trust my training and play the way I have practiced, while also reminding myself of positive moments or plays from the past. This overcame the negativity lingering in my head from the play and helped me regain my confidence.

• How do you stay motivated during times when you’re not performing at your best? Central has taught me a “reload” mentality. This individualizes each play, meaning whether good or bad, I focus on the now instead of the past or future plays. Positive self-talk also helps me trust myself and regain confidence after bad plays.

Team Dynamics & Leadership

• How has being part of a team shaped your personal growth or leadership style? Being a senior on the team and in my position group has significantly grown me as a person and a leader. Our team has forced me to be more social and challenged me to push myself above my limits. The past two seasons, the underclassmen have seen me as a leader and someone to go to with questions. This has shaped me into a leader by words and example, knowing they are looking up to me on and off the field. This has also grown my work ethic by applying pressure to constantly set an example for those looking to me as a leader.

• Can you describe a moment when you had to step up as a leader, either on or off the field? The strength coaches selected me to be a weightlifting team leader for the off-season training in the winter/spring of 2025. This role made me a leader of a group of teammates daily. I had to lead them and set examples for training, help with class, and provide personal help as well. It was a great experience leading a group of teammates and helping them achieve goals and compete in weekly off-season competition.

• What qualities do you think make a great teammate? The three main qualities that I value in teammates are discipline, trust, and a strong work ethic.

Collegiate Transition

• What was the biggest adjustment moving from high school to college athletics? The speed of the game is the biggest difference I noticed. Everything happens faster, routes, throws, and reads all had to become quicker to compete in college compared to high school.

• How do you balance academics with the demands of being a high-level athlete? I tend to tackle my academics in the time I have available during the day and as early as possible. This helps me prevent procrastination and time crunches that could add additional stress. By doing schoolwork ahead of time, I find it easy to balance this responsibility.

• What was an important lesson you learned early on that has impacted your success? Hard work will always get you where you need to go. My family has taught me this from a young age, and it has brought me success all the way through college. Being patient with this process is also important, as results might not happen right away, but through perseverance, you can achieve your goals.

Off-the-Field Life & Mindset

• How do you handle pressure from fans, media, or expectations around performance? I use them to fuel performance but keep them far enough away so they won’t cause me to overthink and feel pressured. Focusing on the upcoming game and what I need to do as a player to help the team and what we need to win usually helps me eliminate distractions such as these.

• What role does mental health play in your life as an athlete, and how do you maintain it? Mental health has played a huge role in my life as an athlete. When I was younger, I used to be anxious about what could go wrong in a game, which caused me to play more reserved. In college, I have transitioned to a mentality of excitement, letting loose, and having fun, which has significantly improved my performance in the game. Positive self-talk/thinking on and off the field has helped maintain good mental health through my career. Thinking of or watching past plays and reminding myself of a good accomplishment often suppresses negative thoughts about myself and my abilities.

• What’s something people might misunderstand about what it takes to compete at your level? The amount of work and dedication it takes to compete in college football. Practice, weightlifting, and film are utilized year-round, and as a college athlete, we are constantly training for only 10 guaranteed games in the Division III regular season. Training for these minimal opportunities mentally challenges you by not always getting to see results, but trusting your training will get you prepared for what’s to come. It has taken four years of this dedication to football to reach the level I am playing at today, which some may not understand when watching a game.

• If you could make a positive impact on all of society, what would it be and why? I would like to help those who are suffering from illness, hunger, homelessness, etc. Seeing these tragic realities makes me realize how grateful I should be for the great life I’ve been given, and having the ability to help someone else get out of this suffering and live a better life is a major goal of mine.

• How would you describe your work ethic? I would describe it as hungry. I find myself always looking for more to accomplish and am never satisfied when I reach a goal. When I do, I set more to chase and continue this process to this day. When there is a goal I am dedicated to, there is no amount of effort/work that can get in my way of reaching it.

 

Your Future

• What do you hope to show scouts at the National Scouting Combine? I hope to show them that small college athletes can compete with higher Division players, my athletic abilities exceed others at the camp, and that I can transition to the professional level. I also want them to see the hard work and dedication I have put into getting to this point. By competing against other athletes at the Combine, I plan to show them the best of my abilities and why they should consider me for a position on their team.

• Where do you see yourself five years after your athletic career ends? I see myself leading and providing for my family and solidifying my presence in the commercial real estate brokerage market. Ideally, moving back towards my hometown to be close to my parents and brothers as well. Long-term, I am planning on building a real estate portfolio to continue supporting my family.

• What legacy do you hope to leave behind in your sport? I hope to show those who look up to me that it doesn’t matter where you come from, big or small towns, hard work and consistency will get you to your goals. I have grown up using this mentality, and it has continued to bring me results. Also giving back, and potentially coaching and helping the youth develop and play football, would be a great legacy to leave. I want others to remember that I worked tirelessly every day to reach my goals and that I was willing to compete for every opportunity to get where I am.