Student-athletes are constantly balancing their academics and sports. It takes countless hours to manage both and leaves them barely any time for anything else. Sometimes students even have to choose between being a student or being an athlete. Choosing one or the other will negatively affect the student and add stress. A class focusing on just a specific sport will decrease the after school hours necessary to devote to athletics and will overall be more beneficial to the students.
Multiple schools in Broward County have started allowing teams to use a study hall as a period to practice.
“It would be really helpful to get practice out of the way during school hours so that there is more time for schoolwork when I get home.”
“The team has study hall all at the same time so we can practice during fourth period,” Cypress softball player Maegan Osmond said. “Baseball, soccer and football have that too.”
The class is usually during fourth period and it goes until the school day is over. This allows the student more time to focus on their academics outside of school and possibly some free time.
The class would not get rid of the sports teams’ practices completely. Color guard has its own class, but the students still have to practice twice a week anyway. However, twice a week is relatively light for the number of practices other teams have.
“A class would be great so I could get home earlier to do my work before 9 at night.”
High school sports teams, especially varsity teams, usually practice four to six times a week for hours on end. Girls’ basketball practices occur after school and on Saturdays for two hours a day. Boys’ volleyball practices are every weekday for two hours a day. Some teams have weight training in addition to practices.
“Getting home at 7 p.m. every day and still having hours of homework is really stressful,” junior Kaia Keppel said. “It would be really helpful to get practice out of the way during school hours so that there is more time for schoolwork when I get home.”
Some team practices start right after school while others start hours after the school day is over and continue on late into the night. Taking into account the time to travel and other factors, the students are left with little time for anything else.
CCHS offers team-related classes like Power Weight Training, Team Sports 1 and 2, Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and Yoga. These classes are for the athletes, but not for a specific sport.
“During the [softball] season, practice is at 6 p.m. Leaving and coming back to school gives me barely any time to do my homework.” sophomore Sierra Huddle said. “A class would be great so I could get home earlier to do my work before 9 at night.”
Taking away study hall may seem counterproductive from an academic standpoint. However, allowing the students to have more time at home opens them to more resources. They could take more online classes, participate in tutoring sessions and sign up for SAT classes that would not have been available beforehand.
CCHS offers team-related classes like Power Weight Training, Team Sports 1 and 2, Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and Yoga. These classes are for the athletes, but not for a specific sport. None of those classes act as a team practice and do not save the students much time.
Team practice classes would be extremely helpful for student-athletes. It would provide them with a large number of opportunities they are not given now, from time to efficiency. It would be extremely beneficial from both a student and an athlete perspective.
Photo by Alexa Jaspan
