During a student’s time in high school, the classes they choose to take often define how they intend to spend a grand majority of their time. For people like me that are in a variety of AP classes, those few classes in which I am given time to relax or participate in something fun are very valuable, and being able to choose those classes is one of the best parts about being in high school.
However, before the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year it was mandated by the Liberty High School athletics department that all returning fall athletes were required to take a weights or sports training class as one of their classes for that semester.
When I heard of this news, I was understandably upset as I had already taken a weights class my sophomore year. I already had plans to either take an attendance waiver or participate in a fun class, but I was now required to yet again participate in weights.
Don’t get me wrong, I like my coach and the fact that I am in that class with my teammates, but as a senior in high school it was incredibly disappointing to have the right to choose one of my classes stripped away from me. On top of this, I feel as if those who went into making this decision didn’t consider that some kids may have already taken a very similar class to that of sports training.
Another thing to consider is while sports training classes keep you active, they are not sport specific at Liberty. Instead of having a practice session or sport specific workouts, as a varsity soccer player I find myself doing the same exercises as the junior varsity cheer squad.
If I really wanted to train for my sports, I would much rather do it on my own and have the time I’m using in training at school to do homework or some fun activity as a break. After all, athletes already spend at least an hour every day after school playing their respective sport, not to mention games.
These large amounts of time students spend playing their sport every day often leads to physical and possibly mental fatigue from the excess athletic activity. I believe this requirement does not reach its intended purpose of preparing that athlete for their competition because rather than preparing them, it is likely making them more tired and less likely to compete at a high level during their game.
While every athlete was required to take a weights class, there were some ways to get around it. If that athlete did not want to participate in that weights class, a signed request from that athlete’s coach was required to opt out, and it was then required to attend either the before or after school weights program in replacement of the class. However, being required to either wake up earlier or go after school right before practice would likely be even more unhealthy for the athlete.
In an already busy high school life, student athletes are now being forced into taking required physical education classes, which in my opinion bring down these athletes more than help them. If this was a requirement the school insisted on making, I believe these classes should be focused more on
recovery and maintaining a healthy body rather than weight training and physical exertion.
I am unaware if the winter and spring athletes will have to follow the rule put in place for the fall athletes, but if they do the multi-sport athletes will likely have to take the same class twice in one year, making this mandate even more unreasonable.