Balancing School & Sports

by staffer Lili Everley

6:45 a.m. wake up and prepare for school

7:43a.m.-2:40 p.m. attend class

2:40-4:30 p.m. varsity basketball tournament game

4:30-5 p.m. drive to travel softball practice

5-6 hitting lesson

6-10 p.m. softball team practice

11 p.m. arrive back home and eat dinner

11:20 p.m.- midnight work on homework midnight-12:30 a.m. get ready for bed

12:30 a.m. go to sleep

This is one day of triple-sport varsity athlete freshman Kali Bogart’s schedule during the winter season.

From the classroom to the court, student athletes put in work. From the school day to practices or contests these individuals are expected to excel, despite how hard it may be both on their physical and mental well-being.

“It’s overwhelming, but you have to find a way to get your coaches to understand that you’re so busy,” Bogart said.

Trying to be successful in both areas of their high school career can be draining. Bogart said she spends a lot of time communicating with the coaches about her activities in order to be present in the sports she participates in.

These athletes learn the skills of communication, time management, determination, and grit. This can prove challenging for the individual as they struggle with procrastinating.

Pommie sophomore Amara Baty said, “Whenever I’m tired from practice, or whatever with dance five days of the week. So, I would say taking moments that I could be using [to work on school], but using them to relax in a sense, so I just need better time management.”

Baty went on to say as a firstyear student athlete, her first semester had a steep learning curve. Now as she approaches second semester, it is all about executing the plans and strategies she set for herself to improve time management and decrease procrastination.

Baty was not alone in the problems of time management. Twosport varsity athlete junior Wyatt Smith said during the season finding the time to study or complete homework around practice times and games can be a struggle. However as an upperclassman, it has become more of a duty and routine which has helped simply because of the experience it gave.

However, the academic side of balance isn’t the only struggle. Because student athletes said thy dedicate so much time to classes and games, being social and maintaining their personal relationships can be extremely hard. As well as trying to rest and recuperate from the physical toll being an athlete takes.

“It’s a lot, so going home and getting the rest you need and maintaining all of those relationships is kind of difficult, because you’re constantly at school, and you don’t really have time for anything,” varsity basketball player senior Maddie Moore said.

These individuals have a lot on their plate and have to prioritize which piece of their life needs more focus at the time. Moore said the athlete should put sports on the back burner if necessary, if that will mean academic success.

“I put school first because it’s more important and because I want to be successful in life,” Moore said, “Then I can do sports and be in the right state of mind to play.”

A common theme between these athletes’ success is planning ahead. Using work time in school such as AR, as well as having a designated time outside of school or even sacrificing social time on the weekends or off days in order to have time to work on preparation for the next week.

“If I know that I’m gonna have a lot of work over the weekend and I try and get it all done on Saturday,” Smith said. “So then I can just have the rest of the weekend to practice and get ready for next week with athletics”

But through all of the tireless hours spent, athletes said they see the value of hard work reflected in both their grades and athletic performance.

“Going out there and having fun on the court makes it all worth it because at the end of the day, you know that you’re doing your best and you’re just there to have fun and enjoy it while it lasts,” Moore said.