Finding the balance between academic and sports commitments is a significant challenge for students, where they are tested to meet the expectations of both academic and athletic worlds.
“I find it very important to maintain an even balance between sports and school but especially during sports season. I do have to miss a lot of my last-period classes, which I try to make up for in access, and I find that communicating with your teacher beforehand is really beneficial,” said Caydence Likeness (’25).
As students aim to do well in school and excel in athletics as well, they sometimes have to make difficult choices, such as saying no to hanging out or parties so they can focus on their grades, classes, and extracurriculars.
“Definitely for my social life, a lot of the times I would not be able to hang out with my friends especially during sports season, it would be either team bonding, practices, or games,” said Deepika Suresh (’26).
Balancing schoolwork and social activities, students often face multiple digital distractions. Sometimes, they have to make quite an effort to cut down on their usage of social media, often prompting more concentration on work.
“Kids who play sports and carry out rigorous sports probably have less wasted time on social media and on their phones and playing video games. Kids should use their phones to have reminders and calendars and should be able to quickly check teachers’ websites, get notifications, and classrooms of things that are for Sunday night, all the things that need to be turned in over the course of the week, the phones can help kids stay organized if they use it appropriately,” said AV JV football coach Christopher Murphy.
Approaching time differently, kids who play sports often learn valuable lessons in managing their time effectively.
“I think the kids who play sports tend to be a little bit more disciplined with free time and the kids who don’t play sports end up procrastinating a little bit more because they think they have more time which they do but they just kind of kick the ball down the road,” said Murphy.
