does homework get in the way of sports

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The Jetstream Journal

How are Student Athletes affected by homework?

Savannah Braden , Journalist | September 30, 2020

Senior Drew Braden briskly runs by during a cross country race held in Fountain Creek Regional Park.

Being a student athlete is no easy task. From late-night practices to long meets, student athletes truly are quite pressed for time when it comes to completing schoolwork. The balance that athletes face between achieving peak athletic performance and homework is quite indisputable if you ask students. Not only is homework mentally depriving, but it also greatly impacts a healthy sleep schedule needed for both academic and athletic success. 

Many athletes ask whether they are assigned too much homework.

Sophomore Jude Walker believes that since he is enrolled in challenging classes, homework is an astounding resource for him “to understand the content.” Contrary to popular belief, homework can be a versatile and impactful tool when it comes to success in the classroom. From Walker’s perspective, homework is a daunting task each night, yet ultimately is a very significant aspect of his academic execution. 

Yet do all students agree with Walker’s perspective? 

The answer is both yes and no. 

Sophomore Kayla Moore, who swims competitively, believes that by competing in a sport and completing homework each night is challenging.

“[Its] is cutting into our sleep schedule and then that is ultimately impacting our performance,” Moore adds. 

By balancing both a heavy workload and striving to be an exceptional athlete, the factor of getting enough sleep comes into play. Students often have to make the tough decision of whether or not they should continue their homework or simply go to bed. 

Just ask Senior Lillian Lewis. 

Lewis is a student athlete who not only thrives in sports but also is enrolled in numerous AP and honors classes, which provides quite the sizable workload each night. From Lewis’s outlook, she often receives a mass amount of homework in an almost unpredictable time frame, which then makes her, “end up deciding between homework and sleep.” 

Yet in contrast, Junior Joy Kemp believes that student athletes are not assigned too much homework.

 “They are the ones who chose to play a sport and do school at the same time, but could choose to cut down on their workload by taking easier classes,” Kemp notes.

Joy’s outlook not only contradicts other Air Academy students but points out the consequences of choice and responsibility. Ultimately, the student decides to enroll in challenging courses and compete in a variety of sports. 

Even though homework is not going away anytime soon, the incontestable role of a student athlete will only strengthen over time. Yet, the next time Air Academy students begin their homework, they should take a moment and understand that while this is a demanding task, it ultimately can make athletes be brighter individuals once they graduate.

Howdy, y'all! My name is Savannah Braden and this is my third year participating in Journalism! In my final year at Air Academy, I am thrilled to be the...

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liam • Feb 20, 2024 at 10:43 am

good article

Student athletes can’t escape homework struggle. Does it matter?

Cries of teen frustration about homework often pop up on social media as a weekend closes and the impending Monday looms over a stack of unfinished reading or worksheets.

Seeing memes for “Sunday homework got me like... ” might elicit a chuckle. But the sentiment is real. It’s not only Sunday — that’s just the inevitable buildup to a week of juggling class, practice, regular meals, games, homework, chores. Maybe also a paying job.

And high school athletes feel the pressure — more than many of their peers who are simply busy — often in exponential ways during the season that could be hard to understand if you aren’t playing sports.

“There are definitely nights where it’s overwhelming,” says Brazil Rule, a senior on the Shenandoah Marlins competitive swim team based in Waynesboro who leaves the house to swim before 5 a.m. most days of the week. “The next morning, I will take practice off, or I’ll have to have a mental health day.”

Makenzie Gray, a sophomore and multi-sport athlete at Stuarts Draft, says it’s the logistics that can be hard to surmount sometimes. Part of the scheduling rigor involves making time for your body to repair itself after a hard game or practice.

“It's usually days when we have an away game where we don't get back until late that I have to make the choice whether to do my homework or sleep,” she says. “For me, sleep suffers. I always feel bad if I don't do my homework.”

The issues are nationwide, really, in almost every high school with traditional sports.

Kayla Rodriguez, a sophomore in Oviedo, Fla., is one of the thousands of teens who talk on social media about their busy schedules.

“I often miss out on hanging out with my friends and having a relationship because the little free time I have is spent doing all my homework,” she says. “Sometimes I have to get up early because I can't stay up all night and do my homework!”

FLAT GROWTH IN AMOUNT

A recent Brown Center report on American education pegs the growth of assigned homework as flat over the years — not supporting any hypothesis that the schedule tension for athletes is new. Or if it is increasing, it might not stem from an uptick in homework itself.

Could distractions like social media and video streaming be more of a factor for teens than an actual change over the years in assignments?

“The current study finds little evidence that the homework load has increased for the average student,” reads the Brown report. “Those with a heavy burden, two or more hours of homework per night, do indeed exist, but they are a distinct minority.”

Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, has studied the issue. He advises a network of charter schools in Harlem and writes about education and reform. “The ‘over-scheduled kid’ is one of those phenomena that dominate the conversation in media, but there’s a lot less evidence for it than you might think,” Pondiscio says. “The opposite seemed to be true: participation in organized extracurricular activities is closely related (even when controlled for socioeconomic status) to a broad range of positive outcomes.”

Less than 15 percent of students had what was deemed heavy daily homework, even as 17-year-olds.

His own daughter is a student athlete — better organized than he ever was, Pondiscio says.

George Laase, baseball coach at Robert E. Lee High School, isn't sure that athletes are dealing with any more assignments at home than previous generations.

"With block scheduling and the efforts of our teaching staff, students have a chance to begin or finish homework before the end of class," he says. "There are less books being taken home and more technology available to help complete the task. But regardless of the amount assigned per day, I still believe (letting it pile up) really becomes a matter of choice by the student."

And things like Netflix tempt teens away from work they know they need to do, says Rule, the swimmer.

POSITIVE EFFECTS?

Being busy with all of it, sports and school, does have helpful effects, the studies show: on physical safety and psychological well-being, supportive relationships with peers and adults, higher self-esteem, reduced alcohol and drug use and higher high school graduation rates.

Martha Mikell, a teacher at Stuarts Draft High School, says she sees this phenomena play out.

“As strange as it may sound, I actually see students do a better job keeping on top of things when they are in season,” Mikell says. “The more rigid schedule forces them to allocate their time wisely and reduces procrastination. After all, if you have a project due Friday and games late on Tuesday and Thursday, you better do it on Wednesday.”

Mikell does encourage parents to help their teens build in some downtime. Without that, they can struggle even more, given diminishing returns of chugging ahead all the time without a regular pause to recharge.

Parents themselves say they feel the stress of balancing everything, and especially of knowing when to push their athlete about homework, or not.

Catie Young of Waynesboro talked about it recently after a bout of parental anxiety triggered by homework.

She has a sophomore, Libby, who swims and runs track, plus two kids in middle school.

Do you help them manage sports and homework, or butt out? Young admits to the natural lectures to her children like “don’t suddenly remember at 9 p.m. Sunday that your special group project is due Monday morning."

“I get uncomfortable when the kids don’t do things when I think they should,” she says. “What I would like to do is lecture them — mom knows best. Instead, I try to step back and remember how thankful I am to no longer be a teenager.”

Young and her husband usually let things play out unless something gets majorly out of whack.

“We expect the children to communicate with their coaches and teachers when they have to make accommodations for athletics or academics,” Young says. “Homework that requires computer time or Internet access is difficult to complete while on the road with a team, though. Long competitions make this particularly challenging.”

In Karen Gray’s house in Draft, it is sleep that suffers even as her daughter’s grades remain solid.

“The struggle for me is watching her balance everything and being so hard on herself,” Gray says. “She wants to excel in both, and sleep seems to be the area that is neglected.”

An extensive study based on a nationally representative database of 5,000 families and their kids, and how they spend their time, concluded there was "very limited empirical support for the over-scheduling hypothesis."

Colin Whitmore, a senior at Stuart Hall, plays four sports. Those demands on his body mean he can’t crimp his sleeping schedule too much.

Instead, he tries to get up a little earlier to work when he is fresh. Or he dedicates his study hall or lunch period at school to finishing homework.

“Personally, I deeply value my sleep — I have found that I feel and function much better when I get quality sleep rather than gutting out a late night to finish a paper or project,” Whitmore says. “When I have something due the next day that could keep me up all night, rather than stressing endlessly over it, I normally just go to bed.”

In the end, it may just be good practice for these athletes. They will face similar demands in college, if that’s where they are headed.

And most adults have faced the prospect of coffee-guzzling to get through a work day on fumes because parenting, work or going out with friends kept them up late the night before.

Dylan Wimer, a senior at Robert E. Lee High, says meeting that challenge — as best he can — is giving him coping skills for life.

“You have to prioritize,” he says. “Every day I have to plan out what I am going to do — school, track practice, shower, game, go home, study.

“You lose a little sleep.”

Advice for winning the homework battle

Athletes should be given more flexibility with homework deadlines

Bailey Spore

Junior Nick Hayslett works in PREP to finish his homework on time.

by Bailey Spore , Reporter September 24, 2018

Participating in high school sports is not easy. With practices every day and games or meets once or twice a week, many student-athletes struggle to balance school work and sports. I have had track meets where I don’t get home until 10:00 at night. By the time I shower and eat dinner, it’s 11:30. At this point I have to make a choice. I can either stay up for another two hours doing homework that is due in the morning, (but then have to go through the school day on 5 hours of sleep), or I can not do my homework (sleep, and turn in my homework late).

Studies published in the  Journal of The American Academy of Pediatrics showed that students need at least 8 hours of sleep to fully function throughout the day. This can be an issue for student-athletes who don’t get to sleep until late at night and are up early in the morning.

No matter what I choose to do, I have to go to practice after school and repeat this process again every night. Teachers should sometimes give more time for homework because of this. I realize school comes before after school activities, but athletes are struggling in classes because of the loads of homework they have.

Student-athletes have to find a way to balance school work with games and practices. Many students don’t do sports just because of the amounts of homework they get. There just isn’t time. At the same time, many athletes love the sports they do and wouldn’t give it up because of extra pressure to complete homework. Sometimes that means they will not do their homework just because of how late athletes are at games or practices.

According to  The Foundation for Global Sports Development , “Not only does sleep affect a student’s academic and athletic performance, but a lack of sleep may lead to a greater risk for injury.”

Not doing homework hurts grades, which could make athletes ineligible and would lead to them not being able to participate in sports. On the other hand, if they do their homework, there is a possibility of being up to or even past midnight. Having to wake up the next morning with only five or six hours of sleep leads to academic struggles. 

This issue could be fixed if athletes had more time allowance for homework. Even with one extra day, students would be able to split their homework, and do half one night and half the next. It’s a win-win situation: participate in sports, get good grades, and get a full eight hours of sleep.

A lot of students participate in sports. Mr. Sunkel is a science teacher and the tennis coach. He estimates that about 20% of his students are student/athletes. That is a lot of students who will be up late doing homework after their practices and games.

Junior Nick Hayslett plays for the football team and runs track. Hayslett gets home from games or meets at 11 most of the time and has to wake up at six the next morning.Hayslett said,  “Athletes need more time because they have less time than other students to do their homework.”

“My student athletes complete homework almost all the time. I will make an exception once in a while for a student who will come to me and say they have an away game and won’t be able to get homework done. A lot of my students do their work in study halls after school,” said Mrs. Jamie Hendi, government teacher.

Mrs. Hendi doesn’t believe student athletes should get more time for because they don’t get more time in college, so why should they in high school?

No matter how much time they get for homework, being a student-athlete is a tough challenge. As long as they are willing to put in the extra time and effort, student-athletes do great in their classes.

• Nick Hayslett
• The American Academy of Pediatrics

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Student-athletes balancing sports and homework: Which comes first?

By Ashley Lodise December 15, 2016

Student-athletes at Cabrini University learn skills like time management when it comes to balancing school work and athletics. These athletes spend long hours at practice and the rest of their time focusing on their academics. The passion these athletes have to be successful resides deeply in their hearts. This is because of their dreams to one day go professional or eventually carry out their major. 

According to Lynn O’Shaugnessy of  CBS News , a thletes at  Division III  schools , which are usually smaller private schools, found their athletic load to be most manageable compared to larger schools. 

“I probably spend three to four hours of my day doing homework and a majority of my time practicing,” Michael Diggins, a basketball junior, said.

Because Cabrini University is a Division III school the student body is so small that the professors are able to get to know their students.

This could be why students at Cabrini are able to create a connection with their professors, and is possibly another reason why Cabrini students do not find it as difficult to handle their workloads as compared to larger universities.

Do student athletes ever sleep?

According to The Foundation for Global Sports Development,  not only can sleep affect a student’s athletic and academic performance in school, but lack of sleep can actually lead to a greater risk for injury. 

Theresa Mignogna, a sophomore soccer player at Cabrini, said that she is likely to take more naps when she is playing a sport.

Some students will say that playing a sport will affect their ability to get their homework done, but Mignogna said that she balances her time.

“If I have 45 minutes before practice to do my homework then that is when I am going to do my homework. If anything sports helps me to manage my time better,” Mignogna said. 

Some students can find that niche between balancing academics and a sport. Some find it difficult to balance both, especially when there is a heavy workload.

Renee Oliver, a senior basketball player, said that she does about eight to ten hours a week doing homework and practices about two and half hours a day, which is about 15 hours per week.

“School work can sometimes interfere with the sport because you need good grades to play, and sometimes that can stress you out,” Oliver said.

On the other hand, Mignogna said that both semesters of playing and not playing a sport did not affect her grades; in fact, they remained the same.

Time Management

When it comes to getting homework done for an athlete it is all about time management.

When asking if time management plays a part in her life Oliver said, “I use time management for everything because I work two jobs, it keeps me more organized than I already was.”

According to Peter Jacobs, a reporter from Business Insider , “Collegiate student-athletes may spend more than 40 hours a week practicing, leaving little time to keep up with academic commitments.” 

Nettie Godwin, a sophomore, ran cross country at Cabrini in 2015.

“There were days where I would get out of class and then I would have to wait until after practice to get my homework done.  Sports are a way to motivate me to get my work done,” Godwin said.

It is up to the student-athlete to decide how they will use their time management skills to efficiently be both a good athlete and student.

Each athlete has their own way of balancing academics and athletics. Depending on the workload, time management and proper health will all decide how these athletes will work most efficiently.

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Sports participation causes students to do better in school

Student athletes often learn to get their homework and schoolwork done during whatever free time they have. Misha Donnelly and Andrew Njogu have found a flow for how to manage their time. “Time management is a big thing you have to work on,” said Njogu.

Rayna Acha , Staff Writer November 8, 2019

Wake up, go to school, go to practice or a game, do your homework, repeat. Student-athletes have a lot on their plates; they have to find a balance between academic performance and athletic performance. South offers around ten sports per season which allow the option for many students to participate. People often assume that sports have a negative impact on grades and overall performance at school but in order to be eligible to play a sport, a 2.0 GPA has to be maintained. The expectation is that students will stay on track to graduate and if they cannot do that then they will no longer be able to play their sport, at least until their grades are improved. 

A BBC article from 2013 discussed a study that found teenagers’ academic performance to improve when they exercised regularly. The study found that there is a link between test scores and exercise. Of the 5,000 young people who participated, observers found that the students who exercised regularly did better on average on their exams than those who didn’t. Moreover, South students seem to exhibit similar results. Andrew Njogu, a junior on the men’s varsity soccer team has had a similar experience as that of the study. “[Sports] motivate me to do better.” Njogu has been playing club soccer since middle school— he’s used to balancing sports and school. “It’s hard to adjust if you just start doing sports and try to do good in school, but you get used to it. Time management is a big thing you have to work on.”

Student-athletes have a time crunch after practice to get homework done. How do they do it? “You find the small amounts of time that you can get work done. I feel like when [you aren’t doing a sport,] you go home right after school and have all this time available, so you keep procrastinating and relaxing until around 9 pm, but when you have a sport you’ve been at practice for two hours and you know you have to do your work,” said Misha Donnelly, a junior on the Junior Varsity volleyball team. 

For the track team, practice starts at 4:00 pm instead of 3:30, which allows athletes to do homework between school and practice. Senior, Raul Ortiz is a member of the track team and a player on the varsity soccer team is able to fit time in for his homework. “We have the time to do [homework] and we can get our work done which is good.” A significant challenge that athletes are faced with when it comes to getting school work done is being tired after practice, but still they manage to persevere. 

Although it seems difficult to complete school work on game nights, student-athletes have mastered a craft. “Game days go really late, sometimes until 9:30, usually if I’m not playing I’ll be in the stands doing my homework,” said Donnelly. Athletes pick up on these hacks, which allow them to succeed on the field/court/etc. and in the classroom. “I’ve been doing volleyball for three years at South, so I have found time management to be pretty easy.” 

Even teachers notice that athletes excel in school. Randy Niemiec, who teaches both upperclassmen and underclassmen in geometry and AP Statistics has noticed how well student-athletes perform in school. “When you’re involved in athletics you’re going to be interacting with other students who care about their academics,” said Niemiec. ‘Psychology Today’ states that participation in sports builds character and Niemiec has also noticed this to be true in with his student-athletes. “There are character traits that you get from participating in athletics like discipline, organization, time management, and delayed gratification which are super helpful in terms of being a good student as well,” added Niemiec.

Students feel that sometimes it can be challenging to participate in a sport during the school year, however many athletes have a love for their sports along with a motivation for school. When asked if he had ever considered quitting his sport because of academics Ortiz replied with “No, never.” Athletes try their best to do well in school and in their sports. 

Overall, sports motivate students to maintain good grades, work well with others, and have fun. Being involved in athletics makes students healthier both physically and mentally. “Being in a sport is a healthy thing to do, in terms of stress relief and getting exercise. Being healthy in that regard can also help you be a better student,” said Niemiec.

• Andrew Njogu
• Misha Donnelly
• physical health
• Randy Niemiec

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Memphis Fentz • Dec 2, 2022 at 4:19 pm

This article is very good. This is something that helped me a lot with my project. Thank you!

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Articles & Advice > College Athletics > Articles

Balancing Classwork and Sports as a High School Student

Balancing school and sports takes a lot of time management and planning ahead. Check out these tips to help you get organized as a high school athlete.

by Crystal Hanes CollegeXpress Student Writer

Last Updated: Jul 31, 2024

Originally Posted: Jul 16, 2021

Life is all about balance: all things have to be done at certain times and in certain amounts, and sports and school are no different. Most students take on the task of school and sports at the same time, and that is completely normal, but the question is: Can you keep up in school and be an athlete at the same time? Time management, scheduling, and working ahead are all necessities if you’re planning to be a student-athlete in high school or college. Let’s work out this decision and figure out if you can do it!

Work on your time management

Are you terrible at timing things correctly? Well, time management is a key skill to being a student-athlete. You have to be at practice on time, know what time you’ll get back home, and coordinate that with how long it will take to do your homework. No matter what you have for homework, it has to get done if you want to stay on the team, and time management will help you with that. If you know you have a hard time getting all your work done, think about taking a study hall so you can get some stuff out of the way during school and won’t have to worry about doing everything after practice. If you don’t have that option, be sure to carve out enough time to get your work done around your activities. Keeping a planner to track each day, week, or month is a good idea so you know what you have going on each night and can plan according to your schedule. Some nights may be jam-packed because you have so many activities and other things going on, so having your homework done ahead of time may be the best plan of action. 

Related: Video: Time Management Tips  

Write out your schedule each day

You see schedules everywhere : in your classroom, on your computer, even on your fridge. But are they the right thing to help keep you on track ? You may need to customize yours to fit your needs and what you need to do. It could be a schedule on your phone through an app or a piece of paper you keep with you to know what’s going on for the day. It could be as simple as “basketball practice” or as complex as “basketball practice at Memorial Park from 4:00–6:00 pm—bring shoes, ball, and water!” Everyone is different, and everything on your to-do list can be set by you and what your needs are. Writing down all the little things you might forget can give you a visual of what you need to do for the day if you're a more vision-based person. Not everyone is this detail oriented, but it could work if you try it, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to stick with it. Everything is up to you, so don't stress yourself out over scheduling out every day if you think it’s too much and won’t last more than a week.

Related: How to Get Organized and Manage Your Time as a High School Student  

Try to work ahead 

Some classes can be a struggle, with the teacher piling on big quantities of homework and classwork. Or maybe you work at a slower pace than others and need to get everything done at home. If you have the chance, start on your work ahead of time so you don’t have to stress out about doing it on a busy night. Some teachers will let you get your books ahead of time and give you a list of all the assignments for the year, so you could start them in the summer so the workload isn’t overbearing come sports season. If your teacher or school offers this, take the free time you have during the summer and complete some of your work; it will save you one day when you don’t have time to do the work the night before it’s due, trust me. Cramming is never good —it will stress you out knowing that you have so much work that needs to be done, and you might not have a good practice or game because of this stress. You never want to get behind on assignments because that would risk your position in school and on your team. If you’re a starter and your grades drop, you could lose your starting position since most schools have a policy for grades and sports. Keeping your grades up and working ahead will help you at all times in your life—not only with high school sports but in college too. 

Related: Surviving Freshman Year of College as a Student-Athlete  

Life can get stressful, so do yourself a favor and make it as stress-free as possible. School is important and you need your education, but sports can help take the edge off school. Don't make school your worst enemy: keep your grades up and your position on your team. By keeping yourself organized, playing sports and doing your schoolwork will be a breeze. Remember to manage your time well, schedule your plans, and put yourself ahead of the game by being proactive and not procrastinating. Keep your head up—you’ve got this, champ!

Are you a pro at procrastinating? Check out our “time management” tag for more tips and tricks to help you kick this habit for good!

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Tags: finding balance high school athletics sports student-athletes time management

About Crystal Hanes

Crystal Hanes is a freshman in high school who enjoys writing, music, and photography.

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The A-Blast

Give all athletes a break

For the common teenager, sports are a major part of life. If students are spending time at practices and games, when do they have time to finish all of their school work?

Grade expectations for athletes should have a lower standard because of issues with time management and the dedication that comes with any sport. Teachers should go easier on the workload when these athletes have games or let them turn in the common homework assignment late.

Sports from the fall, winter and spring all have practices before or after school for almost three hours. This does not include team dinners, bonding time and mandatory meetings that take up a lot of time as well.

With the workload that high school students have these days, many students that don’t even play sports are struggling to complete everything.

So what are student-athletes supposed to do? Get no sleep, quit sports or skip school work? None of the above.

Teachers need to cut their student athletes some slack, by either giving them less homework on the day that they have a game or when they have something mandatory for that sport.

Coaches encourage their athletes to get a lot of sleep for the next day or to keep working on skills outside of practice, and then teachers ask their students to study more, give them more homework or stay after school. The trick for student-athletes is to find the balance between it all.

Junior Erica Johnson, an IB Diploma Candidate, member of the Atoms Marching Band and Swim Team while also working part time at Wakefield Rec Center, just doesn’t see the time to complete everything.

“Balance is hard when you’re trying to excel in all of the things you do, there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything you want to get done completed,” Johnson said.

There’s a triangle of the S’s; school, sports and sleep. The perfect student has an equal balance of the three S’s, but what actual student has that? In reality, a student can only pick two out of the three in order to do them thoroughly and thoughtfully.

For example, students that are in the marching band have practice every day for four hours and competitions all day Saturday. Many of the students in marching band are trying to complete the IB Diploma and get into a good college, but there is no time to finish all of their homework.

“Students are under a lot of stress and we have do much to do between sports and school and work and there just isn’t the time to do everything,”Johnson said.

For IB Diploma candidates, many are forced out of sports because of the homework load, the students don’t have time for sports. Some IB students can come home with five to six hours of homework.

For the college search, many student-athletes are given scholarships to attend a university just because they are incredible at the sport they do. People might think that scholarships that are given to student-athletes with lower GPA’s than non athletes is unfair, but the students that are getting the higher GPA without any sports are working less than the well- rounded student.

Besides, student-athletes not only learn and have great responsibility from team  experiences, they also learn how to have better social skills and manners since coaches do raise their teams to a higher standard than any other club or activity in the school.

Many people characterize a student-athlete as the “dumb jock” stereotype. But actually that’s quite the opposite. The national average high school GPA for athletes was 2.99 and 3.31 for non-athletes, which is not a huge difference considering athletes don’t have as much time for school work as the other kids. The national average college graduation rate was 34.2 percent whereas non-athletes average around 46.8 percent. Again, not a major difference with everything that athletes have on their plate.

Some people might disagree, saying that the students knew what they were putting themselves through, and if they didn’t know how to manage their time, then they shouldn’t have done the sport. Students do sports because they love to be a part of a team or play with a passion. But if they can’t do what they love, where are they going to find their passion to do schoolwork?

Athletes are not allowed to “get away with murder” either when it comes to grades. Fairfax County has a rule set in place where athletes are not allowed to be failing more than 2 classes to be able to play a sport. In addition, students with 3.5 or higher GPA’s get recognition for their achievements academically. Even if it is mainly only freshmen and sophomores considering they aren’t in the full IB program and IB classes yet.

The vicious cycle never ends because to play a sport students are required to get good grades, but these students don’t have enough time to earn the good grades.

Therefore, with everything that the student athlete has going on in their life, teachers of all subjects, IB or not, should be more lenient towards the athlete and give them a break.

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123katniss • Apr 16, 2019 at 1:24 pm

they need to cut them some slack.

Nano Rivera • Feb 12, 2019 at 1:41 am

Playing sports, like many endeavors in life, takes time and energy. If you exercise some intellectual honesty, it should be clear that this is exactly the reason why cutting slack for athletes specifically, is unfair. What about students who study music? What about students who live with disabled siblings or relatives that they have to take care of? Really, what about any of the non-athlete students who have any aspirations or responsibilities outside of school? Athletes aren’t any more special than any other students. This should be obvious.

teacher • Feb 12, 2018 at 4:20 pm

Or realize that sports are EXTRAcurricular activities and should be balanced along with everything else you’re doing. You don’t get special treatment just because you have a game. Students go to the games, should they be given special treatment too? Is there a bubble for you to click as an athlete to make your standardized test graded easier too? Will you be given special treatment in college when you leave High School? No, No, and No. Just get over yourself, and do the required work. What you’re doing for sports is extra

Sean • Jun 1, 2017 at 11:22 am

Learn how to spell if you are going to write a review

Bobby • Oct 21, 2016 at 8:06 am

Megan • Aug 20, 2016 at 7:10 pm

While I agree with the notion that athletes have it harder, I do not believe that teachers should be required to “cut slack” for the students who agree to take on the challenge of being a student-athlete. I personally am taking 4 AP courses and 2 honors courses along with school volleyball, and while I do understand its difficulties, I also understand that it was my personal decision to do this. I believe that teachers and coaches must both understand the difficulties, but not lower their standards because student-athletes should be the most exemplary students in a class. Of course, there will be occasions when students truly cannot balance the time commitment, but 90% of the time, students will be able to, with hard work and dedication. Coaches should understand that time is valuable to student-athletes because academics always trump athletics while in high school. Right idea in this article, but this is much too idealistic and not holding student-athletes to the standard that they should be held to.

Ariana Mackey • Jan 7, 2016 at 10:43 am

I am going threw this see i am on a team called the pep squad which is at my schoo. sometimes my teachers gives me loads of homework but i have practice monday, tuesday,wednesday,and thursday the only day i have off is friday and thats when my math teacher gives me test and when we have home games pep squad has to perform and the games end at 8:00 or 8:30 and i be exhausted and when i get home i just want to fall asleep but then I remember that i sell have homework. i stay until I’m finish which is around 1:00am or 1:30 and i have to be at school before 7:00. so do u see why i only get my sleep on the weekends

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Featured: Student-Athletes: Balancing the Workload

By Lauren Brown ’24

Being a student-athlete is all about balancing your workload, especially if you have other commitments. With a schedule full of classes, practice, games or meets and any additional campus obligations, it can be a lot, but knowing when you have free time to do homework will make these four years of your life a lot less stressful.

Classes and Schoolwork

Academics always come first at Central —ask any professor, coach or student-athlete. What’s important is finding the right times outside of your sport and using those times wisely to do your homework. Every semester your class schedule is going to be different. That might mean doing homework from 12:30-1:45 p.m. on a Wednesday before your 2 p.m. class or all-day Tuesday because you don’t have lab until Thursday. Balancing your time is key as a student-athlete because practices and games are going to take up most afternoons, nights and weekends.

Practices and Lifting

Each sport’s practice times vary. Some teams practice at 5 a.m. while others enter the gym at 4 or 6 in the afternoon. The lifting schedule is also different for every team and changes depending on whether they’re in-season or off-season. Once you know when your practice and lifting times are, it’s best to plan around them so you’re able to do your homework and still get some sleep.

Games and Traveling

Game days are the best days of the week! The team finally gets to compete on the field, in the gym or on a track. It’s what athletes look forward to most. What we don’t look forward to is all the homework and studying we need to get done for the next day. Some coaches allow athletes to work on assignments during games or meets, which is super helpful. When it isn’t allowed, students try to get their work done before the bus departs or do their homework while traveling on the shuttle bus. I tend to struggle with doing homework on a bus but being able to compete makes it worth it!

Other Obligations

Outside of being a student-athlete, you may have other obligations like clubs, councils or work study. These commitments may add to your workload, but they also add to your college experience. What’s important is finding those random times throughout your day — finding that balance — when you can focus on being a “student” so at other times you can focus on being an “athlete.”

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How to Balance Sports and Homework?

There are plenty of articles on how to manage such combinations as homework+work, homework+social life, homework+household chores. However, there’s still something on the list waiting to fit in – sports. Can you pick which suits you better today: to be healthy student with lean, athletic body but with no idea of how to solve the easiest equation or to be a highbrow nerd with a pale face and the bag of bones? One should balance, you say, but how? Let’s consider this problem here so that you’d be able to choose your way. There are normally several ways to set sports among your other everyday activities, but get used to managing your time efficiently.

There are normally several ways to set sports among your other everyday activities, but one should only get used to managing your time efficiently. Even though, not everybody feels about caring about their timetable. Thus, a boom of complaints from students about their failure to combine sports and academics has recently flooded the social networks.

Homework and sports don’t go together — FB4L™ (@FBForL) September 29, 2014

Time-management, as you’ve already guessed, means having clock, calendar, and notebook (luckily, they are on your phone already). So be ready to properly analyze your schedule and write down hours for work-outs and studying. The most important here, people tend to procrastinate with homework, but they hardly postpone sports. So you have two options: either to do sport within the fixed time after classes and later spend the whole night doing (or pretending to do) homework, or  pull yourself together and set yourself say 3 hours for hw (not even minute more) and do your best to fit into the limited time.

What we also advise you is to do hw and sports at the same time. Like jogging in the morning? Listen to necessary audio books instead of music on the run! It would be even more comfortable if you have some sporting equipment at home, it’ll help you to concentrate more on listening while training your body (it is also safer as you do not have to cross the street or run from dogs).

Plan beforehand

Do not start planning the day in the morning – do it in advance. You know for sure which subjects you’re going to have this week, so choose ones of major importance and put preparation for them into the first place. Thus, you create a list of issues which will help you to be sure in your nearest future.

Use free time

Have free periods? Spend a lot of time in transport? Explore how often you have spare minutes and devote them to studying so that you can do at least reading part and save some time to sports. Join friends in a cafeteria of during the break to discuss how to solve this or that task. Using each minute wisely will make you a great achiever in both academics and sports.

Get some help

Eventually, if nothing helps (that is, either you really don’t have free minutes or you spare yourself wasting your time on complaints about the lack of time), try asking for help. Don’t be afraid, it’s not a shame. We understand, that combination doesn’t give you the chance to do homework and exercise properly. Thus, you can always address Assignment Expert, and we’ll help you to do your assignments while you’re training. Submit the task and a team of professionals will solve it with extra explanations which we provide for you not to lag behind in studying.

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How Do Sports Help Students Academically?

Engaging in physical activity and sports is a great way to stay in shape and achieve an overall healthy lifestyle—not to mention the social benefits as individuals develop connections and bonds with their teammates and coaches.

Yet, many students and parents alike wonder what other benefits playing sports offers.

In fact, many high-school student-athletes looking to continue playing sports in college or students looking to participate in college or intramural sports for the first time have likely been asked, or wondered themselves, if and how physical activity affects their academic performance.

Let’s look at the many positive benefits and effects of exercise and sports on students’ academic performance.

Sports in College

Many schools and universities offer official and sanctioned men’s and women’s sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level, such as basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, lacrosse, soccer, and more.

Additionally, students who do not make or wish to compete at the highest level can engage in club sports and intramural leagues. Plus, club sports , unlike intramurals, allow students to compete against teams from other schools and even have national championships.

Both club sports and intramurals are often organized and funded by different academic schools within the college, fraternities, sororities, housing units, and other interest clubs or groups. However, club sports are much more competitive and require tryouts to work and play with other skilled student-athletes and coaches as they practice for organized competitions and tournaments.

Popular club and intramural sports include:

4 Benefits and Effects of Sports on Students’ Academic Performance

Many concerned parents and students alike are worried about the time commitment required to participate in sports and how that will affect their ability to juggle their classes, homework, and other responsibilities. The question, ‘How do sports help students academically?’ is often voiced during student orientations and visits.

People, especially if they haven’t played sports before, often don’t realize that playing sports provides many benefits and positive effects on academic and overall well-being.

Benefit #1: Increased Concentration and Cognitive Resources

Exercise of any kind can increase blood flow to the brain, which helps the body build more connections between nerves. Moreover, by strengthening these connections, individuals see increased concentration, enhanced memory, stimulated creativity, and better-developed problem-solving skills.

Not only is this useful when playing sports, as athletes need to remember and abide by rules of play in their sport, but it’s also instrumental in the classroom. With increased concentration levels, students can stay engaged during lectures, retain information more easily, and focus and study for exams longer.

All of which leads to improved grades, higher test scores, and high academic performance overall.

Benefit #2: Interpersonal Skills

Though some sports have athletes compete individually, they will likely play and work alongside teammates and coaches in practices and competitions.

As such, student-athletes learn and develop, foster, and build essential interpersonal skills such as leadership, time management, and working with others to achieve common goals. Athletes can transfer these skills and solid work ethic from the classroom to their future careers as they engage in lively exchanges with professors or group projects with their peers.

By working together, students learn how to overcome obstacles and differences on and off the field, resulting in positive academic, competitive, and social outcomes.

Benefit #3: Psychosocial

Sports allow individuals to connect with others and be a part of a team and community. Furthermore, being in a community with others with similar interests and goals makes students feel less alone, resulting in higher self-esteem, efficacy, and self-worth.

Student-athletes also form strong bonds and relationships through team-building activities, practice, team competitions, and traveling. Plus, enjoying victories and suffering losses allows athletes to lean on one another, translating into their academic lives as players support each other toward academic endeavors and goals.

Benefit #4: Academic and Financial Assistance

College can be overwhelming, especially for student-athletes managing their coursework with practice and game schedules, hence why many colleges and universities offer special tutoring and study sessions in conjunction with their student support services as an extra way to help, motivate, and boost an athlete’s academic performance.

Additionally, student-athletes may be eligible for athletic-based scholarships , as well as need-based and merit-based financial aid, that can alleviate the stress of paying for college. These scholarships often take some of the pressure of paying for college off an individual’s mind and open them up to focus on their studies and sports commitments rather than adding a job to their already full plate.

While playing sports in college can be challenging as athletes manage their multiple responsibilities, the beneficial effects on student’s academic performance, physical health, and strength of social bonds reveal how valuable sports programs can be.

The long and short of it? Playing sports helps your brain grow alongside physical fitness, allowing it to work better to solve problems, leading to higher academic performance and overall quality of life.

Let’s hit the court/field/gym!

Ready to take your exercise and academic performance to new heights? Contact us to learn more about University of Bridgeport’s tight-knit sports teams , dedicated coaching staff, and pristine sports facilities that will help you pursue your passions and goals on the field and in the classroom.

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