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Student Athletes Burned Out

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With all this running around, student athletes often feel overwhelming amounts of stress. “We are concerned that students in these selective, high pressure high schools can get burned out even before they reach college,” noted Leonard, PhD, a senior research scientist at the New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) (“NYU Study Examines Top High School Students' Stress and Coping Mechanisms”). It is still important for athletes to build good time-management skills, however, they should not be burned out before they get to college. There needs to be a balance of a busy schedule and a more flexible schedule so that students can decompress. “We have kids who do three sports — that’s several hours of practice after school,” said Cresskill …show more content…

Unfortunately, student athletes are at a risk of over-working themselves in gym which can lead to more injuries in the future. Therese Marcazo, Athletic Trainer at Watchung Hills, says, “I believe that one advantage of skipping gym class is to decrease the chance of injury and to allowing athletes recovery time and the chance to rest,” (Marcazo). It is important for athletes to have more of an opportunity to rest their bodies in between training at practice. Unfortunately, athletes are at a great risk of injury during their sport seasons and often face serious injuries. These injuries occur over time but can have long-term effects on athletes. “Overuse injuries occur gradually overtime, when an activity is repeated so often that the body parts do not have time to heal between playing” (“High School Sports Injuries”). If athletes are expected to participate in gym for about 40 minutes and practice for 2-3 hours, this amount of exercise can become excessive and unnecessary. Furthemore, this extra rest will allow athletes to be more engerized and healthy for tough practices and games. An injury to a high school athlete can be a significant disappointment for the teen, the family, and the coaches. “The pressure to play can lead to decisions that may lead to additional injury with long-term effects. High school sports injuries can cause problems that require surgery as an adult, and may lead to …show more content…

“After all, according to a MSNBC investigation, researchers have found that the average high school gym class only keeps students physically active for an average of 16 minutes” (“The Pros and Cons of Mandatory Gym Class in Public Schools”). If students are not being physically active in gym class, then they should not have to waste this time when they could be working on homework, receiving extra help from teachers, or adding more classes to their schedules. There are far better ways for students to spend their time instead of spending time in a class that they are not benefiting from. “Student athletes make sacrifices for their sports and unfortunately these sacrifices sometimes include missing assignments and losing time for studying” (“Athletes Exempt from Gym Class?”). This extra time during a study hall would allow students to make up for missed time so they are not overwhelmed when they return from practice. Even though athletes have learned how to manage a busy schedule, the Hillsborough High School District should try their best to accomodate for their busy student-athletes. Student-Athletes at the Hillsborough High School deserve extra time for school work and also time for rest. This extra time will allow them to focus more on their school work. The goal for

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