One thing that I’ve figured out throughout High School while being a student-athlete is that school is very dreadful when you have a game that day. The day seems twice as long and you’re forced to think about things other than what I have to do after school which seems very strenuous. All student-athletes understand this theory and many would like for teachers to understand it as well.

On game days during the football season I found many of my teammates, including myself falling asleep on the bus on the way to games. This is a very obvious sign of exhaustion and isn’t a good habit to have when athletes are trying to win games. During the games when we didn’t have school or had half days the majority of the team remained awake and very focused on the bus. Game days are tough and sometimes athletes wish that their game could be more of a priority at school, but school comes first.

Upon asking, basketball players also run into the same problem. When speaking with Noah Atwell, a varsity basketball starter, he exclaims “It sucks to be fatigued before the warm-ups start and I think that there’s a lot that we could do to help our energy levels at the end of the day before our games.” Noah believes that teachers/administrators should come together and decide what should be done about this.

Finding a solution for this epidemic won’t be easy, but if athletes and teachers work together, a solution is sure to be found.