Balancing Sports & Academics
Introduction:
Student-athletes lead busy lives: their schedules are often packed with homework, practice, extracurriculars, and additional obligations with friends and family. How can students who participate in sports find time to care for their physical and mental health? How do their lifestyles affect them psychologically? Let’s talk about how we can balance sports and academics.
Life of a Student-Athlete:
We talked with some student-athletes from various schools to find out more about what life is like for students in sports.
Freshman Kayla N is a multisport student-athlete, participating in both volleyball and soccer. During volleyball season, she would wake up at 5 am and be at practice by 5:45 am. She had volleyball until the end of 1st period, 8:10 am. After school ended at 3 pm, she would do her homework. Kayla usually slept around 11 pm. Kayla was able to exceed in both school and sports, and usually wasn’t extremely stressed except for test weeks. Kayla is also in orchestra, which would sometimes conflict with her volleyball schedule. The switch between volleyball and soccer season happened during her school district’s test week, changing her entire class schedule. Switching to afternoon practices for soccer in addition to adjusting to the new schedule was a bit difficult for her.
Sophomore Megan L is on the varsity color guard team at her school. She wakes up at 7:15 am, has breakfast, and goes to school at 8 am. Her schedule consists of the following classes: Integrated Math 2 Advanced, Spanish 5/6, Marching Band Core (color guard), Advanced English, History, and Engineering 2. During Marching Band Core, she works with her team on their routines, sometimes working with equipment and other times working on dance. School ends at 3:30 pm. After getting home, she prepares for evening practice by changing into athletic wear and packing her practice bag. She eats dinner and tries to finish as much homework as possible before going to practice, which starts at 5:45 pm and ends at 9 pm. Megan gets home at 9:30 pm and usually has nothing left to do as she does most of her homework during school. Megan ended the semester with a 3.5 GPA.
Jayda N is now a freshman in college. She describes her junior year of high school as the most stressful. She took 5 AP/dual credit classes that year which she had to balance with cross country. On top of that she was an editor for her school’s Key club, vice president of orchestra, and an officer for 5 other clubs on campus. Jayda also had to do volunteer work. On an average day she would wake up at 5 am, get to practice at 5:30 am, and be in class by 7:20 am. She would get home at around 5 pm, and complete her academic work. Jayda would usually get to bed at midnight. Despite some subpar sleep, she kept her mental health in check and was able to get everything done on time. Her strategy was to pretend everything was due the day it was assigned, to get everything done as soon as possible. She says that time management was key to balancing everything she had to do.
As we can see, student-athletes can live varied lives regarding stress levels and how much they are taking on. They each have ways to manage school and athletic responsibilities while making sure it’s not too much for their mental health. But what happens when it becomes too much for them to handle?
The Mental Toll:
The weight of student-athlete responsibilities can be overwhelming. On top of school and sports, they have to maintain their social lives as well. This lifestyle can have some negative impacts on the student-athletes' mental health including:
Increased Anxiety - It’s easy to become anxious when student-athletes struggle to balance the different responsibilities given to them. They are constantly worrying about everything they need to do and whether or not they’ll get it done, creating anxiety.
Lower Academic Performance - Less time to study and complete schoolwork can cause grades to plummet. This can cause even more anxiety. They might have difficulty concentrating during class.
Lower Athletic Performance - Spending too much time on school means less time for sports and recovery, causing decreased performance on the field, court, or track. Student-athletes will also worry about losing positions on the team or eligibility to compete.
Depression - Feelings of hopelessness about managing school and sports can cause negative feelings. Depression can stem from worrying about everything that must be done as well as seeing athletic and academic performance drop. Student-athletes might experience a lack of motivation to give their full efforts in school and sports.
College Sports and Mental Health:
The NCAA conducted some research regarding mental health among collegiate athletes. Here are some results of these findings:
As we can see, only about half of the student-athletes surveyed felt that mental health was taken seriously in their athletics department. Less than half feel comfortable seeking support from a mental health provider on campus. These findings reveal that student-athletes at the college level are not exempt from mental health challenges. There is still a lot of progress to be made in improving mental health conditions with student-athletes.
The high-pressure situations of college sports are a significant step up from high school sports. The weight of needing to win and achieve in sports combined with the rigor of college-level courses can be crushing. Additionally, there is still a stigma surrounding mental health in sports, making it more difficult for student-athletes to address their mental health challenges. Raising mental health awareness and encouraging student-athletes to seek help rather than “tough it out” can help ease the stress of balancing sports and academics.
Tips For Balancing School and Sports:
Here are some helpful tips that might help you excel in both school and sports and prevent academic-athletic burnout:
Organization: Investing in some color-coded folders, planning out your schedule, and setting aside time to study will help you utilize your time to its fullest. Staying organized helps to avoid wasting precious time.
Peer support: Work together with your fellow student-athletes who are going through similar experiences. Set up group study sessions an d support each other with any struggles you might encounter.
Communication: Talking to your coaches and teachers is key to maintaining an athletic-academic lifestyle.
Prioritization: Identify the tasks that are most urgent and significant, and do those first. Keep in mind when your practices and games take place so you can make sure everything is done when it needs to be.
Make the most of your time: Even the 15 minutes you spend waiting before practice can be used to get in some studying or some work. If you’re struggling to finish your homework without staying up late, try to get it done during free time in class or whatever other time you can find.
Conclusion:
All in all, the lives of student-athletes demand a lot of time and effort. Balancing sports and academics can be taxing on mental health, causing anxiety and a decline in athletic and academic performance. The NCAA’s research shows that there is a need for better mental health support for student-athletes. Despite the struggles that come with being a student in sports, there are ways to combat the stress and maintain mental health. With proper organization, time management, and motivation, student-athletes can succeed in both school and sports without sacrificing psychological well-being.
Sources:
“College Sports Not Immune to Mental Health Challenges.” NCAA.Org, NCAA.org, 8 May 2023, www.ncaa.org/news/2023/5/4/media-center-college-sports-not-immune-to-mental-health-challenges.aspx.
Mottern, Chelsea. “How to Balance Academic and Athletic Demands.” SportsEngine, 2 June 2023, discover.sportsengineplay.com/article/volleyball/how-balance-academic-and-athletic-demands.
“Study: College Athletes Experience Higher Rates of Mental Health Stigma - Georgia State University News.” Georgia State News Hub, 14 Sept. 2023, news.gsu.edu/2023/09/07/study-college-athletes-experience-high-rates-of-mental-health-stigma/.
“Tips to Balance School & Sports: Success Starts Within.” Success Starts Within LLC, Eli Straw, 10 Nov. 2023, www.successstartswithin.com/blog/how-to-balance-school-sports-as-a-student-athlete.
“Understanding Student-Athlete Burnout.” NCAA.Org, www.ncaa.org/sports/2014/12/10/understanding-student-athlete-burnout.aspx. Accessed 1 Jan. 2024.