Most coaches always use the motto ‘school before sports’. Yet some athletes find it hard to decide which one is more important in a situation where they feel committed and want to improve in both. From parents to teammates that are more sport driven, it can get difficult to know when to draw the line and start focusing on whats more important.

The boy’s volleyball team at FHN has about three-hour long practices every day after school during their spring season. Even though player and senior Jack Stover has figured out how to balance his school, athletic and social life, his coach Robin Yuede has had situations where players of hers could not handle the pressure of balancing these things. 

“I think it’s become a lot harder to balance,” Yuede said. “When I was in school, there wasn’t so much pressure to do as much as I just played volleyball and that’s it.” 

Teachers and parents usually recommend participating in extracurricular activities and sports but some students find themselves participating in a lot of these activities which can cause more stress in their lives. When students have multiple activities on their to-do lists, it can interfere with their school work which is a priority to most. Having long practices, club meetings, and maybe even working a job to earn some money is sometimes too much. Balancing these things and keeping stress down is important for students to be successful.

“I would give them the advice to look at it from a different perspective,” Stover said. “Give it a thought of why I love this sport. Why did I love this sport? Why do I continue to play and why should I continue to play?”

Since Stover knows how to balance his workload, his advice should not be taken lightly. Students have to take multiple factors into consideration when their school work or stress levels become worse. 

“If they love the sport and enjoy the sport and make it fun, then they’re going to want to be around and involved in the sport and want to continue playing,” Yuede said.