Student Athletes Struggle with the combination of Homework and Sport obligations

Several sports are offered at HC, with a significant amount of student athletes. There are always a lot of practices, not to mention games, but that doesn’t mean you’re excused from the homework due the next day. A lot is expected out of these students, as they are pressured to represent their school athletically, but also have to do just as well academically.

“I have practice five nights a week during the season,” HC Junior Lacrosse Player Jake Tucker said. “I usually have three, sometimes four hours of homework a night. It’s hard to handle.”

Because of this, athletes sometimes have to make sacrifices in order to keep up. A lot of times, this means sleep. Adolescents are supposed to get an average of 8-10 hours of sleep a night, according to the American Sleep Foundation. With practice until 6pm, dinner, and homework, most students stay up until 11pm. If you have to wake up at 6:30am for school, that’s seven and a half hours at the most. That’s without factoring in distractions and other social events.

The proposed benefits of athletes may seem unfair those who wouldn’t receive them. Even if the school was able to agree upon a fair policy to assist student athletes, there are still a variety of activities that these students also participate in. There just has to be a way to make more time.

Some students think that a homework reduction may not be necessary, but an adjustment to practice may help.

“We have practice three times a week,” HC Sophomore Dancer Mackenzie Davis said. “Being able to have shorter practices would help a lot, and we would have more time at night to do homework.”

Sports have different schedules, but the athletes also have different workloads. In a single sport, there are people of every kind. Every sport and athlete is unique, so there probably isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution to this problem.

“If I have to choose, I would have more practice and less homework,” Tucker said.

In order to be eligible to play, you have to maintain a 2.5 GPA. That isn’t difficult for some students, but others struggle. If a critical member to any sports team is in danger of being ineligible, that could affect the outcome of a game, or even the reputation of the school.

If a change can’t be made to practice or school work, a student may have found a suggestion that could create more time without impacting either.

“I think that there should be a way for people who play sports to have a study hall,” HC Junior Golfer Kathleen Gibbs said. “It could easily replace an elective.”

Though a student has suggestions on how to take pressure off of student athletes, they have learned to make do with the way things currently are.

“I feel that I handle it well,” Davis said. “I’m organized and know what I have to get done and when it’s due.”

Whether it’s adding an elective option, getting organized, or some other kind of agreement, student athletes have to find ways to achieve both academically and athletically. You can’t play without succeeding in both.