Sports have become an important part of students’ lives. Given that participating on a school team can look great on college applications and improve one’s popularity among peers, joining a sports team is often a great option for students. However, though academics are just as, if not more important than sports, they are sometimes set aside by hard working athletes. Since athletes are required to take a substantial amount of time away from school for practices and games, they may have a hard time managing athletics with homework as well as missed tests and quizzes. Some people may even claim that athletes have the most difficult roles in school, as they always have to put their best foot forward (literally), but also make time to keep up their grades. 

When asked about how time-consuming a varsity sport is, IB student and varsity tennis player Nikil Sunku states, “It is very time-consuming. Each practice for varsity is two and a half to three hours, and it’s pretty exhausting. Plus, because it is right after school, you are already tired, which just adds insult to injury.” He then goes on to say, “Once the season starts, I usually get home around 5:30 to 6:00 for four out of five days of the week. What makes it harder is that games are during second semester: when there are AP and IB tests.” It is clear that the life of a student-athlete is definitely difficult and can be a setback for focused scholars. 

However, it is possible to manage the work, as proven by Nikil. He states, “To be honest though, it is not too hard to manage time. [This is] mainly because a lot of students procrastinate anyway and don’t start their work till late night after taking two or three hours to relax. There is almost never so much homework that I am unable to finish because of that two to three hour practice. The real pain is from the exhaustion felt after so many hours at school [and practice], which makes it hard to want to resume work.”

Although playing school sports can make school life difficult, you have to remember that it is your choice to be part of the team, and you brought the challenge upon yourself. The reason why students go through this pain is because they realize it is worth it, as they are able to spend time with others with a similar interest, get involved in school activities, and enhance their college admissions applications. Many student-athletes are able to manage their workload with school, and the overall benefits of playing on a school sports teams seem to be worth it.