When you started playing sports as a kid, it was all about the love for the game and having fun. Now, it’s about late-night studying, missing out on events, pressure to be perfect for college, and the big question every student athlete asks themselves at some point: Is this all worth it?
It is fairly common for high school students to play sports, whether it’s for school, a club sport, or just for fun. According to the National Federation of High School Sports, over 8 million students participate in high school sports yearly. The biggest issue when it comes to this is whether it takes away from your social life and the “high school experience.”
Daniel Grabowski, a freshman at Liberty, participates in high school football as well as track. He voiced his struggle in keeping up with his social life while being a part of high school sports. He has mastered the balancing act of keeping up with his friends, doing his schoolwork, and participating in multiple sports, but still rarely has any time to socialize during the season.
“On Fridays, I have practice after school, but my friends will all be hanging out all day and night. It’s hard to hang out with them during the week, so I have to make the most of weekends,” Grabowski said.
Aside from social life struggles, another thing many student athletes, and people in general don’t talk about enough is burnout. The textbook definition of burnout is “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” Numerous athletes get burnt out of their sport, especially if they aren’t getting enough personal time, are practicing too much, or feel too many external pressures.
“I started doing 7on7, which is basically football without lineman. I started doing that and track at the same time, and it burned me out. I ended up having to quit 7on7 so I could focus on track,” Grabowski said.
There are many struggles that come with being a high school athlete, but there are greater rewards that come with it. Multiple students at Liberty have claimed that sports can broaden your social life and create many new connections and friendships.
“Playing sports adds to my social life. I can interact with more people, and meet new people through them,” sophomore Tyson Burley said.
Burley participates in football and basketball during the school year. He also voices how hard it is to maintain a good balance between schoolwork and sports. Balancing schoolwork is a struggle student athletes may face, depending on their time management, practice schedule, and grace given by teachers in season.
“I spend double the amount of time playing basketball during the high school season than I spend on homework,” Burley said.
There are many benefits to playing sports, but they can also present challenges in many other aspects of life. Athletes find it challenging to balance a social life, schoolwork, family life, and practice when participating in high school sports. With external pressures of being a good athlete and having college to consider, being an athlete can be a lot. Despite these struggles, many athletes, like Tyson and Daniel, consider playing sports to have more positive outcomes than negative.
“The relationships you’ll get from playing sports are unbreakable,” Grabowski said
