Throughout the years, Leesville has had its fair share of student-athletes. Many of them stress about balancing many different classes, after-school activities, and life as an athlete.
“It is very hard to manage school and play a sport at the same time because practices are two hours a day and on match days I get home at or even later than 8. By the time I get home, I am too tired to do any work or be productive,” said Diana Higgins, senior and team captain on the varsity tennis team.
One of the hardest things to learn as an athlete is time management. Many players from all sports ranging from Varsity to JV learn to manage their time on their own, causing many players to struggle with keeping up alongside the other students.
“Balancing school and sports isn’t easy and is very stressful because you can fall behind in school so fast if you decide to not do homework for one day,” said Higgins.
Logan Kiser, sophomore on the varsity football and lacrosse team, said, “Sometimes it’s hard to find time to do my work especially right before games, I try to forget about it and choose to focus on winning.
Logan also talks about how balancing friends with all of life is a challenge, especially with being on varsity so young. He describes how he tries to make time for his friends by “pushing his work out of the way” to focus on his friendships.
Teagan Hogan similarly explains how difficult it is mentally to play a sport while also being involved with friends, clubs, and other athletics. “Managing school work along with keeping up my game is definitely challenging because I am always in the volleyball gym during the season after school for around 3-4 hours a day.”
Being a student-athlete requires an immense amount of time, and understanding how to manage time is a big part of what many do. While it can require some time to adjust, understanding how to balance school and sports is important for a student athlete’s success.
