Common Sense Editorial

Sports practices are five to six days a week and games are one to two times a week. This leaves minimum time for homework, and even some practices are right after school, so athletes cannot see teachers for extra help. “When I am in season, it is very tough to balance school and football,” senior Jack Berman said.

With at least three hours of homework, this leaves athletes almost no time for their schoolwork. Most practices span two hours if not more, so athletes find themselves staying up past 12 trying to finish their work. Along with homework, students who play sports may have less time to study, and this could cause their grades to be worse in season compared to out of season. “During field hockey and lacrosse season I always have less time to study, and I get stressed,” sophomore Kelly Baldwin said.

Club meetings are held after school, so athletes are not present to understand the requirements of the club. For example, Patriot Ambassadors have the requirement of being at five events. This is difficult for athletes because they cannot do events after school, or even sometimes on the weekend. “I had to miss some of the meetings due to [lacrosse] practice and games always interfering,” sophomore Faraz Ahmed said.

Juniors not only struggle to keep up with sports and school, but they also have to focus on applying to colleges while taking three AP classes and taking the ACT or SAT. “I have to go straight to ACT prep from practice over and over again,” junior Bailey Goldstein said. Most juniors graders do not get home until 8 p.m., without showering or eating, so they do not start their homework until 9 p.m. at the earliest.

Upperclassmen sometimes have the burden of keeping a job, while managing everything else in their lives. Managing all of these activities is difficult as it is, so adding a sport just increases stress levels. Junior Daniel Rudden works at Potomac Pizza, and balances this job with playing lacrosse. “It is hard, but you just work through it, sometimes I stay after school to get work done,” Rudden said

Along with homework, studying, ACT and SAT prep and having a job, students also want to maintain a social life. Although they may have friends on their sports teams, students want to have time to hang out with their friends outside of school and sports. This is why days off, or Wellness Days are important to students, because they give students a break from sports and school.

6 of 9 editorial board members agreed