Being a student-athlete is not all pep rallies, trophies, and hype. There is so much more that an athlete has to do that the average student does not do on a daily basis. You spend eight treacherous hours of the day at school sitting there listening to your teachers help educate you and learn from what they are telling or showing you. You must always complete your work because coaches would not like their athletes not completing the work that was assigned to them in class. 

One of the major hurdles for student-athletes is managing their time efficiently. They have to attend classes, and complete assignments, while also dedicating numerous hours to practice, team meetings, and competitions. Every athlete will tell you that getting school work completed is another hurdle and it is not that we do not want to complete it. The issue is that fatigue will not allow us to. 

As a student hearing a teacher complain about you is the worst but as an athlete when they complain about you to your coaches it is the worst thing ever. It leads to an additional layer of anxiety that at times feels unnecessary. Your worries are now not just about grades ]]and your performance in your given sport, it now extends to your behavior. 

You have to set good examples for your teammates and for other students according to your coach, so you always leave class to be on time for your next class. You can not afford to be in the hallways fooling around with your friends. When you have practice after school, you have to attend practice and follow the things your coach tells you to do. If you are a leader you also have to help other teammates stay focused and on track all while you do this and make sure you also take time to condition. 

When the school day is officially done for most students at 2:50 P.M. Most athletes have practice after school. Most practices do not let out until 8pm. After practice, you have to fight through fatigue and eat, shower, get some homework done and take time to rest. If you happen to have a project or test coming up that adds on to the already tight schedule.  

The whole point of training so hard is to play your sport and when you have a game after school, not only do you have to attend the game and play against an opponent. You also have to play hard and try to get a win. 

UACHS junior and student athlete, Amir Wiggins tells us what he does in order to ensure his homework is completed on game days. 

“On game days I usually try to get my homework done or started before school ends,” said Wiggins. “I do this to get that advantage for when I go home after the game.”

Game days can be stressful for an athlete. Especially after the games when you go home and are tired and still have to finish homework and make time to study. 

“ It is time-consuming,” said Wiggins. “Especially after the games where you are sore, tired, and drenched in sweat.” 

No matter how tired or run down you feel, the next morning you get up and follow the same routine. To the average person it may sound like the life of a student athlete is extremely hard, but the reality is that if you want to be the best, your work ethic must match that mind set. Student athletes work hard and play harder.