Many high school students take on the pressure of being a student-athlete, balancing not only their practices and games throughout their season but also their schoolwork and personal lives.
Some find ways to blend these various parts of their lives seamlessly, but for others, it is not as easy.
“Truth be told, I don't know how I handle the pressure,” junior cross country and track runner Cobe Maddox said. “I kind of just run with it. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. It's definitely better than ignoring it altogether, though.”
Maddox said this year provided a change from his last two seasons of cross country. He is now an upperclassman, and the more he has improved in the sport, the more pressure that has been added to his plate.
“Within the last two years of doing cross country, I was never really a vital part of the team, never really a game-changing member,” he said. “I got injured at the end of my freshman and sophomore years. So this year was a lot different for me when it comes to my place on the team. I put in a lot of work over the summer, and, come race day, I was our top guy every time, but with that comes the pressure to get better and better at a faster rate so you don't let your team down.”
There's a lot of pressure on student-athletes due to the highly demanding nature of their sports, and many are also in more advanced classes, making the balance between school and sports even trickier. Many students also have a job, possibly even multiple ones.
Senior Leila Fowler participates in cross country and track. She also has an internship at a law firm. Self-care is essential to Fowler. She makes sure she stays hydrated, gets plenty of rest, and does her skincare routine, and her positive affirmations help her mental health.
Student-athletes quickly learn the stress of time management, the struggle of academics, the lack of sleep, and the social isolation, and they are more likely to experience burnout. On top of all that, student-athletes face pressure from their peers, who critique their performance, and even pressure from their coaches, who push them to excel.
Academics can be hard in high school, but adding a sport or even a job can be seriously exhausting and mentally demanding for many. As a student-athlete, being patient with oneself and knowing when to take a break is seen as very significant by mental health experts because pushing oneself too hard can genuinely mess up a person’s physical and mental health.
“One way I balance schoolwork and sports is by sacrificing things that I enjoy,” junior boys basketball player Roman Barnes said. “Being good at sports takes sacrifice of things like eating junk food, playing video games, and hanging out with friends. If you want to be good at sports, you're going to have to sacrifice some things that you enjoy.”
Although most coaches do want what is best for their athletes and to push them to be the best, some coaches have a different mentality and put more pressure on their students to succeed than on helping them. Coaches like that have a win-at-all-cost mentality, pushing a kid over even if it's too much for the student to bear.
“The pressure from your coach can definitely negatively affect you,” Barnes said. “Having high expectations is not easy. When you don't meet these expectations, there are consequences, like less playing time. This can ruin a player's confidence and make him shy away from playing like himself.”
Balancing one’s life as a student-athlete between school work, jobs, personal lives, and sports can be difficult. Setting boundaries, learning to say no, and scheduling time for rest, even from their sport, is what many young student-athletes say is crucial to balance it all. Knowing when to ask for help is also necessary to work through the pressures, according to Maddox.
“I handle mental health kind of by just going with it and telling people close to me about it,” Maddox said. “‘Cause a lot more people care than you think, and it'd surprise you the amount of advice you could get from people.”