Student Athlete Workload
A study from BSN Sports found that 80% of student athletes have reported feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities they face during their school year.
Historically, student athletes have been known to have a tougher workload than the average student, but why is this?
For winter sport athletes like varsity basketball captain Isaiah Clendinen, the pressure hits during the competitive season. Isaiah says that during the off-season, managing his time is pretty easy with just an hour or two of practice. However, once winter arrives, the pressure grows. Isaiah explains that the key to survival is focus, “I just really need to lock in on my classes when I’m actually in them and making sure that I’m listening to my teachers, taking notes, following the lectures, because it’s definitely easy to fall behind when you have practice, and you come home, and you’re exhausted.”
According to Uwill, a website that focuses on mental health and wellness, student athletes often suffer from poor sleep due to excessive homework and morning/night training which can negatively impact their sleep which can ultimately lead to poor mental health.
Isaiah’s daily routine brings these stats to life. He balances a hard school day from 8:30 AM to 2:50 PM with two to three hours of basketball daily. Oftentimes, he’ll have “double workouts” where he heads straight from team practice to an individual workout. By the time he returns home exhausted, he still has 30 to 45 minutes of homework. This constant practice schedule leaves little to no room for downtime which shows the threat of burnout.
Another risk that student athletes face is injury. Along with the physical aspect of injury, it can also degrade their mental health. Some student-athletes may face some sort of identity crisis if they are facing an injury.
Isaiah Clendinen said, “Academically, I would just say dealing with pain and doing schoolwork, especially when it’s hard, is definitely not easy, ’cause you can definitely take the easy way out and just say that you’re hurt and you don’t need to do it, but schoolwork is a very big priority.”
Balancing these physical and mental hurdles are hard. Because of this, According to GEL (Grayson Executive Learning) most schools and universities offer academic support for student-athletes. Such as tutoring, study groups, etc. For Isaiah, surviving the workload relies entirely on a dedicated support system, including his family, his grandmother, and his mentor, Coach Knight. “They check upon me a lot, they make sure that I’m okay and give me the resources and advice that I need,”
Isaiah’s experience highlights that athletic success with a caring personal support system is a formula for success.
This is a very well-written article. all the words are clear and i agree with what you are saying and this is also affecting me because i play a sport.
I agree with this article because I also play a sport and have lots of work. This article does have an impact on me too, that mental health matters.
This article showed me how hard it is to balance school and sports. I like how Isaiah works hard on both.