When you are at high school, it is hard enough to balance your school and personal lives. Add a sport into the mix and it becomes even harder. Approximately 57% of high school students play a sport.

Caitlin Thwaites

If you play a sport; whether it be athletics, hockey, netball, or rugby, you know how hard and long the training sessions can be. Student athletes don’t get much rest - waking up extra early to be at morning training, or staying up late to finish homework that you didn’t have time to do because you were at training all evening is the reality for some.

On top of all that, your Coaches expect you to be performing to your best ability in their sports team. Your teachers expect you to perform at your best in the classroom, and while parents want the best for their child, they often push their kids just as hard as teachers and coaches to succeed. Now you can see where the pressure piles up. 

From a study taken by the National Library of Medicine from high school students, 91% said that they felt stress due to sport. The most common causes of this stress were self-pressure and fear of failure.  

High school schedules, when in a sporting code can look as full as waking up with a quick training or workout, then 6 hours of school, then home to an afternoon practice, game, or late-night training session. Playing a sport means there is never truly an off season. You are always training. 

Let’s not forget the neglect your social life can face when trying to balance school and sports. Friends might not have training as frequently, so might get frustrated when your more extensive training or more frequent games is always overlapping with when your friends want to spend time with you. 

Many student athletes suffer burnout due to the constant late nights, or the absence of time to themselves. Academics can steal important time to unwind or enjoy hobbies outside of sporting codes or a school framework. 

All athletes have missed shots; whether it be the final shot to make you tie in a game or lose by a miniscule amount. A missed shot leaves you frustrated with yourself, knowing you could have done better.  

But this is very common- professional athletes have felt that same pressure. Whether it was Micheal Jordan missing some of the most important shots of the NBA for his team, or Serena Williams losing many games early on in her career. This doesn’t change the fact that she has ended up with among the most Grand Slam titles to this day. 

In short, it is ok to take time for yourself. To balance the two different areas of your life, whether it be sporting or school. The pressure everyone faces can be at different levels of extreme. We just need to remember it’s okay and that pressure is a normal part of life.