WEB EXCLUSIVE

A walk-off homerun, a buzzer-beating halfcourt shot, and a game-winning touchdown all have one thing in common–they bring a crowd to its feet, awing everyone in the audience. These moments mean just as much to high school athletes. The ultimate feeling for a student-athlete is the thrill of making an incredible play under the watchful eye of his passionate fans, especially during a rivalry game.

The emotion, hustle and passion of the players are visible to the audience. They do not see everything, however. Student-athletes endure their fair share of struggles and obstacles to overcome, most of which are not seen by the crowd.

There is a reason that in the term “student-athlete” starts with student. Student-athletes have to work and study just as hard as those who do not play sports, but they have to balance practice and games as well.

Schedules of student-athletes often look like this: wake up, go to school, practice, work out, eat dinner, do homework and go to sleep. Many of them get home late, leaving very little time to do homework or study for tests. Yet, they are expected to learn intently after getting a lesser amount of sleep than most students.

Another aspect of being a student-athlete which causes problems is that injuries are a common occurrence, especially in sports like football and lacrosse. Injuries can prevent students from being able to do their work or focus–or, they can make it difficult to get from class to class.

Stress, injuries and a lack of sleep all negatively affect the mentality of student-athletes. It takes a large amount of mental and physical strength for student-athletes to thrive. Having success as a student-athlete at the high school or college level takes a lot of hard work and determination.

Not only must student-athletes overcome many challenges to excel, they also need to have enough talent to compete at the level of their peers. Some high school teams have a good group of skilled players, and it takes talent to beat such a team. If a student attends a school like that, it can be difficult to make the team because there are so many talented players trying out.

Once student-athletes have the talent and hard work necessary to compete at their respective level of sport and can balance the many tasks required of them, they can dominate their sport. After all of the stress, health issues and other problems are conquered, then the athlete can do big things.

Student-athletes put an enormous amount of time and effort into their craft. It’s the game-winning plays that make it all worth it. The feeling of victory and success is everything.