On any afternoon, many athletes go after school to their own sports practice, however it’s different for each student. Some athletes have multiple practices that they have to split their time between and some have one that they solely train on all year. Though their schedules, training styles, and goals may differ, both specialized and multi-sport athletes share the same commitment and drive to compete.
Junior Kyleigh Stakelin and senior Matthew Pasley are specialized, single-sport athletes, while junior Betty Sutherland and sophomore Tripp Cecil play multiple sports. Their point of views on being an athlete can all be different, but they all have a very intense schedule.
“I normally have practice six days a week for two hours unless it’s a game day then the game takes place of the practice,” said Stakelin. “I put in my own training time outside of practice about two or three days a week.”
With practice, games, training, and working out, many student athletes have so much to do and not a lot of time to do it. Playing many sports at a time makes this a little bit more difficult especially with schoolwork.
“I do a lot of homework when I get home from school but when I have practice it makes it difficult to get it all done and do my other responsibilities,” said Cecil. “If I make sure I finish all of my work during the day it’s way easier to balance.”
Being an athlete can also affect your social life. No matter how many sports you play, finding a way to manage your time is really difficult.
“The most challenging part is probably finding time to spend with friends because of how busy your schedule is,” said Pasley. “With family, practice, games, film, sleeping, just trying to find time to talk to and hangout with friends is very hard.”
Playing a sport can also be really hard on your mental health. It is a lot on athletes, especially when you have more than one sport that you have to keep up with.
“The hardest part is balancing all while maintaining a strong mental health,” said Sutherland. “It can get stressful during seasons to perform your best athletically while also trying to perform the best I can as a student. “
Whether you play one sport or many, it can be very mentally taxing. It is very important that each athlete takes care of themselves so they can perform to the best of your ability.
“It can get exhausting mentally and physically due to feeling overworked or feeling more under pressure so you have to learn to listen to your body and give yourselves little breaks just to recharge yourself,” said Stakelin. “Learning this has been the most useful over every physical skill I have gained from basketball.”
