By Lux Sheplee, Staff Writer
Student athletes at River Hill High School are often stressed due to heavy work loads. However, routines and time management look different from person to person. The effects of participating in a sport can be both positive and negative. Sports can provide a break from academics, but they can also take away vital time needed for homework.
Discussions with several students seem to prove a central point. When asked if sports were stress relieving or stress inducing, every athlete agreed that sports either fully induce stress, or at least contribute to it.
Stephanie Moses, a varsity field hockey player, describes the difficulties of juggling sports simultaneously with school. When asked about time management she replied,“my time management is good without sports, but it is worse with the rigorous classes I am taking and my intense sports schedule.”
Similarly, track runner Teni Adjena states, that even with good time management, “when I have track I don’t study because I don’t have time to study. Track induces stress for me because I worry about going to practice for two hours when I need those two hours to study.” Teni also finds that her grades tend to drop during track season.
Varsity football player and track runner Nahome Bruk also agrees that he worries about doing his work while balancing sports practices. He says that “sports induce stress, because you need time to do your homework, but it’s fun.”
However, while these athletes agree that sports cause stress, they also enjoy their activities for various reasons. Varsity soccer player Julia Purdue explains that “soccer definitely is a source of stress, but it’s also my only outlet. It’s also nice to be part of a team, because even though it’s stressful, you go through it together.”
In agreement with Nahome and Julia, when asked why she continues to play through the stress, Stephanie responded “I continue to play because it is fun at times, and the team can be a fun aspect.” Claire Liu, varsity volleyball player says that “It’s very time consuming, but I like playing volleyball.”
On the other hand, unlike the other athletes interviewed, junior Hasan Mirasyedi does not find stress in varsity soccer. He comments, “Soccer makes me less stressed, but my time management could be better.”
The Online Journal of Sport Psychology investigates the very issue of being a student athlete in universities. They have found that many student athletes view sports as a source of stress rather than destress.
The Journal also describes that the jump from being a high school athlete to a university athlete poses a further conflict. High school athletes are generally able to maintain higher grades while participating in athletics than university students. This explains why several of the athletes interviewed were apprehensive about the question, “Do you plan to pursue sports in college?”
Sports provide an escape from academics for students at River Hill, but they often tend to build onto stress. However, being part of a team and participating in activities they enjoy, student athletes experience both benefits and drawbacks with their sports.