Pairing sports and academics is very common in high school students, but how are students balancing practice and game schedules?
“Student athlete”. This is the term to describe a student who participates in school sports. Coaches and teachers will always tell you that “student” comes first.
The way high schools frame it is that you must maintain a certain gpa in order to participate in any school related sports. Therefore any and all high school athletes must be a student before they are an athlete.
Junior Jakob McElveen, a long distance track runner said, “balancing school and running track at the same time can be tough because of the excess work from school. It is hard to stay up late and do work, especially after practice.”
McElveen is an IB candidate, McElveen takes some of the harder classes the school has to offer for his grade level. This work keeps him busy which means his daily after school track practice can cut into the time he has to do school work
McElveen said, “I recently told my coach I’d have to miss some practice in order to catch up in my math class. Fortunately, this did not cost me my spot on the team, but I am not able to show up for my team one hundred percent of the time due to my school work.”
“I feel I am able to balance my work and sports at the same time. I find time during school along with after school to complete any work from my classes.” Said sophomore Lily Rumpf.
Rumpf plays varsity girls soccer at Annandale High School. She is also going for the IB diploma as well. Rumpf said, “I get lots of work from my IB chemistry class which I would say is my toughest class. I use the W4 and pride time blocks to do a lot of this work. If need be I sometimes use my classes I have less work in to finish up some work, or simply finish the work at home.”
Blocks such as W4 and pride time are cut out for students to give them time to catch up in classes along with work with teachers in classes they may be struggling in. Many student athletes of this block may have less time at home to do the work due to their sport.
Junior Mathew Giron Blanco, a varsity lacrosse player at Annandale High School said, “I always utilize the W4 and pride time blocks as they help give me time to prepare for tests. It beats staying up late at night to study. I am awake and focused.”
There is no question that sports can cut into time for academics however there is still compensation for the missed time due to practices and games.
Some athletes who are going off to college really have to focus on their grades which can be even tougher.
Senior Antony Gomez, a Varsity lacrosse captain, said, “I am going to Marymount University next year so my grades this year really matter. I enjoy my time on Annandale Varsity Lacrosse and I feel I am able to maintain a good gpa along with being present to the team.”
Gomez goes into further detail on his balance between school and sports. “I do get a decent work load for some of my classes, however I never find myself needing to stay up too late or miss practice because of this work.”
Overall the balance between academics and sports at Annandale High School has been very manageable due to factors such as the W4 and Pride time blocks cut out for the school day. Some students do end up struggling with the balance when conflicted with harder courses.
Annandale continues to embrace the W4 and pride time blocks which ultimately allows students to get excess work done and lets the student athletes knock the student part out first.
