Being a student athlete can be a challenge to do throughout high school. Whether it’s worrying about your grades you also have to worry about your sport. Students face the hard challenge of taking on both responsibilities at the same time.
A typical day could look like either going to an early morning practice or having to get up very early, still going to class for the rest of the day. Or going to practice after all of their classes. Then on game days some may have to travel to far locations to play and get dismissed early, possibly having to make up a test or assignment.
All of this can be a very hard and stressful time for the student athletes having to put their mind on school and grades while also giving it their all on the field. These grades usually are the first thing in their mind as they need to keep them up if they want to be eligible to play in that sport. This gives them an extra thing to think about and have to do throughout their already busy day.
Classes can seem harder as all of these sports are physical and include lots of running, jumping and games or practice can run late, and athletes get home late and can make early morning classes really rough for them and can make schoolwork even harder.
These sports are very crucial to have, though, if well maintained. They can teach valuable skills like teamwork, time management and discipline. These skills are valuable to have in this stage of life and will carry on into the future. It can also help with better studying habits and the activity can improve concentration and reduce stress.
Our student athletes definitely deserve lots of appreciation for the hard work they do in class and on the field. As it can be very hard to balance both things at once it takes a lot of hard work and dedication but is very doable.
According to the National Institute of Health sports are linked to reduced rates of depression anxiety and stress although 60% still experience moderate to high stress from sports pressure. Also, according to the National Federation of State High School Engaging in one or multiple sports can students 1.5 to 2.7 times more likely to report A’s and Bs.
