Across the country, student athletes are putting in a countless number of hours into their sports and studies. With this dedication, a good deal of these students are feeling overworked and experiencing tremendous stress levels. It’s no doubt that pressure comes naturally when it comes to school, but are student athletes feeling a greater effect of this?
In the 2022–23 school year, approximately six million high school students participated in sports. Whether these students participate in one sport or multiple, the effects they experience are all equally felt. Balancing school on top of sports can be difficult for these high school athletes to manage, especially when they have hours of school work to complete. The main cause for stress in high school students is heavy coursework, so when coupled with sports it can certainly be a struggle.
The majority of these students’ nights are often spent entirely on sports or completing school work. “On a usual night, if I don’t have a game, I spend about two hours at volleyball, an hour at softball, and one to two hours doing homework,” said sophomore Cassidy Ash. “To be honest, it’s very stressful and frustrating trying to balance school and sports. I find that I often struggle to get everything done while trying to maintain relationships with people that I care about. It feels like no matter what I do, I end up falling behind in some aspect of my life.”
While sports can have their benefits for physical and mental health, the downsides felt by these athletes are tremendous. High school athletes are predisposed to injuries, concussions, overtraining, and sleep disorders. On top of this, they are at a greater risk for requiring treatment for substance use, eating disorders, and anxiety disorders compared to other students. As a result, a good deal of student athletes experience burnout, a form of exhaustion from feeling constantly swamped. The major question that comes into play for these students is if the burnout from all of this is worth it.
Burnout is considered a complete state of exhaustion and may be felt differently by different people. Junior Sofia Hisle describes it as “constantly feeling drained and not put together, having no motivation, school work and grades declining, and going through multiple breakdowns a day.” Hisle also added that burnout can affect her activities. “It causes me to want to stay in bed and come to school late or leave early. It also makes me not want to hang out with friends.”
Given the crazy schedules of these students, many of these athletes often get an insufficient amount of sleep each night. Teens typically need 8–10 hours of sleep in order to optimally function. However, many of these students are not getting that and often feel tired all day. With a heavy academic and athletic workload, student athletes are even more susceptible to less sleep than their peers. Research suggests that individual athletes are only getting around 6.5 hours of sleep per night. This lack of sleep may impact accuracy, endurance, muscle memory, injury risk, and overall performance. Thus, it is crucial that students, especially athletes, are getting an adequate amount of sleep.
Sophomore Bridget Steidle notes how being an athlete affects her sleep schedule. “I typically go to bed at 12:00 and get around six hours of sleep,” Steidle mentioned. “I think that being an athlete does affect the amount of sleep I get because I can’t go to bed until a very late time. I am usually tired during the school day. I then have to go straight from school to practice, straight home to eat dinner, to hours of homework, and then eventually to bed.
Clearly, the effects of being a student athlete have a major impact on several aspects of student athletes’ lives. These students may encounter mental health issues, burnout, a lack of sleep, and much more. While all of these factors notably affect their lives, athletes continue to endure this cycle as sports are a very significant part of their high school experience. It’s no doubt that student athletes are placed under an immense amount of pressure, so it is crucial that they are recognized for all of the hard work they devote to school and sports.
