Sports are a good way to release tension and pressure in a healthy and controlled fashion, yet they can also add to the pile of tasks required to complete. Students have plenty of work to do, and, at times, sports practice might interfere with getting said work done leaving students with the choices of either skipping practice, skipping homework, or not skipping a sport. The choices are limited depending on a student’s plate and the way they manage to clean it up.

“[Playing] soccer takes up a lot of time but it’s not impossible to balance it. I try and do homework before practice, during school, and if necessary I’ll sometimes skip practice completely,” Esteban Escartin, a junior, said. He used to get home around seven after doing sports which left him with little to no time to accomplish any of his school work. Because of the time, he had to make the decision to not take part in this year’s soccer team. Apart from taking time, Escartin also states that sports take up both effort and energy which added to the difficulty of accomplishing school work-let alone anything else he had wished to do.

“You have to focus on keeping your grades stable to be able to play and practice. I balance my time by dedicating more of my free time for homework after practice. Yes, I do struggle because homework can [include] different due dates, projects, or assignments,” Jose Romero, a sophomore, said. He said that sports keep you in check. In order to be allowed to practice a student-athlete must have good grades. 

Learning when to have time for an extra activity is important because not everyone has the same time availability. He said that balancing sports with work can be challenging at times due to lack of time, but school is always a priority to him.

“I believe students who play sports are more likely to succeed academically. Studies have proven that sports allow students to better grow brain cells, which in turn increase memory function, creativity, and even problem-solving. Therefore, yes, I believe sports do impact academic performance,” Angela Diaz, a senior, said. Diaz says that sports are indeed beneficial to a student’s academic performance because they allow a student to develop penetrating thinking. 

She also believes it is important to focus on something other than school because otherwise, she would lose her sanity. She states it is important to keep a schedule to stay on track with all the work. If students wish to participate in extracurricular activities they would need to complete all their work on time. 

“Sometimes, activities overlap and it comes down to picking priorities. My grades come first, and sports second,” Diaz said. Student-athletes are students before athletes; it’s in the name and everyone will remind them.