The Secret to Balancing School and Sports
Going into my first year of high school I was clueless. As the oldest child, I didn’t have anyone to guide me going into a new school. That included getting around DHS and the sports programs. The first sport I joined was basketball. I was on the ninth grade basketball team. I quickly learned that being a student athlete was not easy. After my basketball season, I played Varsity softball in the spring. Being on varsity added a lot more responsibility.
Not only that, practices were longer and I felt more stress and pressure to be a perfect athlete while maintaining school.
So how do you balance school and sports? My advice would be to think about the phrase, “Student-Athlete”. Notice in that phrase the word, “student” comes before “athlete”. Student is first in the phrase because you should put your academic career in front of sports. Remember that school should be your number one priority as a student athlete. While winning is fun and definitely important, school should be prioritized over sports. It isn’t easy to put school first, as a student athlete sometimes I will go home and practice hitting off the tee for softball rather than doing my homework because I love softball and I love playing sports.
Sports are meant to be an outlet and in some cases help you get into college in the future. Putting school first means that it is your focus, but not that it is what you should spend every waking moment. Sports are a great way to make friends and to take a break from school and homework and tests.
Photo By: DAF Media
I interviewed three DHS seniors who are student athletes. One of them being Katelyn Erdlen, who is the Girls Volleyball Captain and has been on varsity since ninth grade. Girls Volleyball is highly competitive at DHS and I asked Erdlen, “‘what impact has sports had on your school work?’ ‘I think that sports are definitely a good break from school. When school is over I am often very tired but having practice or a game re-energizes me and is a good escape. It is definitely stressful at times but overall I enjoy playing sports’”. Sports, while competitive, are supposed to be enjoyable and fun.
Photo By: Mitch Flix
It is important for any student to have study habits in order to stay on task. For a student athlete, it is definitely important to keep track of your day. I asked Tommy Karczewski who plays varsity football and baseball, “‘what strategies do you use/do in order to keep up with school?’ ‘I set a calendar on my phone or on my laptop to keep track of my work. I also set timers for myself when doing school work to manage my time properly and get my work done’”. School days are long, and practices and especially games make the day feel never ending. When you are on the bus heading back home at 10 pm after losing in the state finals, you will not be motivated to do your homework. Making sure that you keep track of what work you have is very important in order to stay balanced. Getting your work done before games and practices is very helpful and makes life much easier.
Photo By: DAF Media
The last (but certainly not least) senior I asked was Keely Fox. Keely is the Girls Varsity Soccer captain and a 3 year varsity player. I asked Fox, “‘Is it hard to balance school work while being an athlete?’ ‘It’s definitely something that takes getting used to. As I’ve gotten older it’s been a little harder just because the workload increases and there is less time to do it but I’ve been able to manage it by getting ahead on work and planning my week around big tests and games’”. A big part of being a student athlete is scheduling. Scheduling not just practice but also managing school and other hobbies.
Being a student athlete is not easy, however it is totally worth it. Sports have given me so many things to be grateful for. Like new friends, winning and losing, and many valuable lessons. Ask any athlete and they will tell you the same. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. Work hard to be the best student athlete you can be.
