Online School is Causing Stress in Student-Athletes

Students have had to adapt in many ways during virtual learning. Figuring out a way to manage stress and balance the anxieties of their sport with online school is something new that many are struggling with. (Photo Courtesy of Amelia Collado)

Four weeks into online school, student’s workloads are starting to pile on. With sports starting back up students feel as if there isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish it all . With many changes in school and sports teens are finding it hard to manage all the stress.

It is no surprise that students have had trouble trying to adapt to distance learning. 

Without physically being in class, most students are finding it harder to learn and understand the curriculum. Raegan Howey, a sophomore at Leesville, has struggled with online learning: “Sometimes I have to teach myself by watching videos or finding other resources online,” said Howey.

Governor Cooper recently cleared sports such as travel football, club volleyball, and competitive dance to start their seasons. Travel sports tend to have time-consuming practice and competition schedules. 

Niko Sonye, a sophomore at Leesville, has had a hard time balancing his schedule: ”I have practice six days a week and that doesn’t leave a lot of time for school work. On a normal school day, I would like to prioritize football but school work has to come first”. 

Many student-athletes feel as if they do not have enough time to do it all. Gabe Sherman, a sophomore at Leesville, said, “ I lose sleep because of football, I’m up so late doing homework sometimes the next day I’ll sleep through my first class or take naps during the day”. 

Sports are supposed to be a stress relief outlet for teens, but for many it adds more stress to their day. 

Valerie Rome, a sophomore at Leesville who dances year round, “I danced over summer and it was so much more enjoyable than now. Now when I’m at dance I’m always worrying about how much work I have to do when I get home or how I should be doing it instead of being at practice,” said Rome. 

Lots of students-athletes feel that during the school year, their sport causes more anxiety and makes it harder for them to enjoy doing the thing they love. 

Students have had to adapt in many ways during virtual learning. Figuring out a way to manage stress and balance the anxieties of their sport with online school is something new that many are struggling with and has proven very difficult.

One response to “Online School is Causing Stress in Student-Athletes”

  1. This article was really entertaining and was well written. I am very happy to see this serious issue tackled from the perspective of a student.

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