Club Sports: Pain or Gain

Samantha Lerner, Lillian Zhou

After a long day of school and hours of grueling practice, the immense amount of schoolwork waiting for an athlete hits hard. Despite the huge commitment, many student athletes still choose to play club sports of-season, which requires continuous sacrifce in terms of time, money and mental well-being.

One major struggle for athletes in club sports is the demanding schedule and time commitment. Club sports require multiple practices per week and games in diferent states, with some tournaments even causing students to miss school. This detracts from the time students have to be with friends, pursue other passions, complete schoolwork and even sleep.

Additionally, club sports are often very competitive, which can lead to toxicity within the team. Many athletes play of-season in hopes of receiving recruitment ofers from colleges; yet, according to the NCAA, only seven percent of high school athletes continue to play in college. Because of this, many students feel the need to outperform their teammates, impacting the way the team functions.

Expenses are another discouraging factor of playing club sports. Many clubs cost thousands of dollars each season—a big concern for some athletes and their families. For example, Sports Performance Volleyball, a highly ranked and competitive club, costs upwards of $12,000 per season, not including jerseys, equipment or travel expenses per a current member.

Rather than committing so much time and efort toward a single club sport, some coaches suggest alternatives such as going to the gym and eating healthy, since playing of-season doesn’t necessarily guarantee a spot on the sports team.

The time and fnancial commitments of club sports place a lot of unnecessary pressure on student athletes to do well at games for college scouts on top of academics. Having to allocate time for everything while staying physically and mentally ft is overwhelming and not worth the cost.

Average chance of NCAA recruitment

Football Basketball Tennis Soccer 7.3 %

3.8 %

4.7 %

6.4 %

Volleyball Swimming Golf Lacrosse 3.8 %

7.4 %

6.3 %

12.7 %

All athletes know the pride, joy and sense of accomplishment that comes after making a great pass to a teammate or scoring the game-winning point. The exhilarating feeling of stepping onto the court, surrounded by people you trust and playing a sport you love is unlike any other. Playing a club sport can help form important friendships, improve skills and fuel an athlete’s passion for their sport.

Through participating in club sports, athletes form strong relationships with their teammates and coaches during the countless hours they spend together. Playing together to accomplish something—like winning a championship—helps athletes form bonds with each other.

Club sports also expose athletes to many useful skills that they can apply to other aspects of their lives such as leadership, people-skills and time-management. Playing on a team means working with different types of people and learning how to motivate them. Athletes need to dedicate a signifcant amount of time to club sports, but it also teaches them how to balance a heavy workload.

During the high school season, athletes have practice everyday and play games throughout the week. Once that ends, students don’t have a chance to build their skills until the next season. By choosing to play during the of season, athletes gain extra practice and game experience.

Staying adept during the of season pays of, playing a club sport can also heighten an athlete’s chances at playing in college. According to the NCAA, 90 percent of student athletes who compete at a college level played for a club team during the recruiting process.

Time, dedication and repetition are necessary for athletes to improve. Rather than staying home and watching Netfix, dedicated athletes that play club sports are staying active and refning their skills. As an athlete consistently devotes their time to a sport, their passion for the sport also grows, which in the end is what really matters.

“I started playing club soccer because my dad wanted me to, but as I played more and more I realized I wasn’t doing it for my dad and that I actually really liked the sport.”

Alessandro Zuppardo ’25