Student-athletes may find it challenging to complete homework and carve out time to study when their practices run late or start late. Athletes may become worn out from their team’s practices and find it hard to have the energy to stay on top of their work.
The girls’ volleyball season takes place in the fall. Practices run from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.. The team does conditioning for the first hour of practice and fast paced drills for the second hour. The rigorous practice schedule leaves athletes exhausted, which may result in a lack of homework being completed afterward. “Our volleyball practices are extremely hard and make me very tired afterwards. I feel like the second I come home I want to crash and go right to bed,” sophomore Sofia Sossa said.
Boys’ basketball season takes place in the winter and also practices from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. with the majority of practice being at a fast pace. While the level of difficulty for practice varies based on if they have an opponent the following day and how good the opponent is, the majority of practices are ended on a type of scrimmage. These scrimmages are made up of members of the team and are always performed at a faster pace that cause players to leave practice tired. The players also perform ‘up-downs,’ which consist of players running up and down the court at full speed. “Even though practice is hard and I enjoy the process, I’m always left exhausted after practice. I try to study as much as my body lets me, but it’s very hard,” sophomore Chase Mitchell said.
The boys’ lacrosse season takes place in the spring with practices from 6 p.m to 8:30 p.m. Adding on to the late time of their practices, all practices are at a fast pace. Players come in to practice tired from a full day of school and have to go home and then come back to school. Coaches also have players run a mile at the end of practices to condition them. The lateness and the difficulty of the practices, as well as the exhaustion after a long day of school, may make it hard for students to find a place and time to study and do homework. “After a hard day of practice and school, I look at my phone and see how late it is and don’t see how there’s any way for me to do my school work,” sophomore Zachary King said.
Long, hard practices put athletes at disservice throughout their seasons. Coaches need to ensure practices begin and end at reasonable times and practices must be a reasonable level of toughness if athletes are to balance their academics with athletics. High school athletes should have the opportunity to participate without sports being a burden. “Practices are fun but run really long and I’m left with no time to do school work,” sophomore Nathan Zweig said.
