“Sports can provide so many opportunities to make lifelong friends and they can be so much fun. Not only can they be extremely fun, but they also can teach you so much about life and how to carry yourself not only on the field but in your everyday life. I feel that participating in sports in your young adulthood is one of the best possible things a person could do,” said Zachary Rosamalia, the current Environmental Science teacher, Anatomy teacher and former student athlete. Being a student athlete means you are involved in a sport while being a student. These kids are balancing school, sports, homework, work, and other activities! This brings a question to mind; how can they balance everything?
“My daily schedule is to go to school, go to soccer practice or games, and then go to lacrosse practice an hour away. Or I have school and then soccer practice or games. … Honestly I’m not motivated at the end of the day to do my homework, but my mom makes me complete my homework to keep my grades at As,” said Tess Andrews. Andrews is a freshman in all honors classes. Not only is she the goalie for the school girls soccer team, but she is an outstanding lacrosse player.
As you may have heard, high school students need at least 8 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, many do not meet this requirement. Those who are involved in sports rarely get enough sleep when they are in season. Studies have shown that players who get better sleep perform better during games. But when would they have the time?
Rosamalia commented about his experience as a past athlete. He replied, “Finding time for yourself can be tricky sometimes since sports and school keep you so busy. I always try to make sure I can relax at the end of the day, and I don’t ever want to wake up in the morning and immediately start doing any kind of work. I always tried to get any homework done during the school day in down time in classes, or right after school before practice starts. This allows me to have the end of the night to just decompress and relax, and I like to take the morning to get myself up properly and have time to ease into my day.”
A big concern for many of these players is their grades. It is a complicated issue to try and cram homework on top of games and practices. In addition, students may have to miss instruction time because of away games. In order to remain on the team, they must meet a minimum GPA. According to PIAA standards, if you are failing two classes then you are not eligible to play.
Physical education teacher and Southern Lehigh football coach Philip Sams further explained, “These students are active for over 12 hours a day. They wake up early to head to school for seven hours, then they head to AT LEAST one and a half to two hour practices, then they have home affairs, homework, and work. They have to sacrifice their ‘me time’ in order to achieve this. … However, I think their grades are better in season because they have a rhythm. The rhythm builds a system that works for that particular student.”
Overall, being a student athlete is tough. The hours are hard on a developing teenager. To make the ordeal easier, ensure to keep organized, manage your time, and communicate with those that can help you. After talking to students and coaches, they both believe that finding a rhythm that works for you is key. It is also important to find time for yourself once in a while.
