Balancing Sports and Studies

Around 91% of high school student-athletes report being stressed about their sport. Besides worrying about grades, projects, and GPA, now some college students have another item to worry about: sports. Over the years, it has become increasingly hard for students to balance sports and study, because many college sports teams require lots of time and dedication.

During college, if someone is on a sports team, they would have to travel sometimes. This means that they would miss classes, possibly important projects and homework that they will have to catch up on later. College is already stressful, but adding days of missed work could overly stress someone out.

Another problem that student-athletes struggle with is getting enough sleep. Being on a team sometimes means waking up at 4 or 5 am for morning practices, since they have classes during the day. Afterward, in the afternoon, there is sometimes a second practice session, or a meet. It could lead to not getting enough sleep, which causes many problems. These practices and meets also remove a few hours from the student athlete’s homework and study time, making good time management crucial. However, it is not always easy to manage your time perfectly, and many college courses are pretty demanding.

Mental health is another concern for student-athletes. Often, attempting to balance studies and sports leads to burnout, depression, or anxiety for students. However, schools are trying to fix these problems by offering better mental health services. Another facet of being a student-athlete is the sacrifices that they have to make, such as time. Practice is also usually exhausting, and are designed to push the athletes to their limits.

Another issue is that teachers usually don’t take student-athletes into account when assigning projects, deadlines, etc. As mentioned above, this could lead to mental health issues and a load of stress. This could be fixed if schools offered academic flexibility to student-athletes. This would include extended deadlines and tutoring.

These many challenges can leave student athletes feeling overwhelmed. The days of balancing studies and athletics can be hard, but in the long run, , and more.