sorry, i have practice

Student athletes balance commit ments and their mental health

ARTICLE BY ANGELICA FROUMIS, SAMIRA MADDEN & SNEHA MADAN • PHOTOS & DESIGN BY KYLA ULUG

Senior Symphony Malone finishes school, comes home for a quick nap and attempts to complete a little bit of homework before heading back to school for volleyball practice. After a long practice, she still has countless assignments ahead of her. Feeling stressed, she stays up late, trying to stay caught up on assignments, and glances at the clock to see that it’s already 1 a.m. She feels drained. This challenging schedule is a reality for many high school student athletes at UPA.

Symphony Malone

Being a student athlete, while having its rewards, does come with sacrifices for girls’ varsity volleyball player Symphony Malone, particularly when it comes to time constraints with college applications.

“The college application deadlines started coming up faster, and I wouldn’t really have time to write essays, and I was panicking and freaking out because I’m like, ‘Am I gonna get it done?’” Malone said. “It was really stressful.”

With daily practice and up to three games a week, Malone feels like there are no breaks, which makes it difficult to find time for college relat- ed work, compared to other seniors who may have more free time.

Additionally, Malone made the varsity basketball team shortly fol lowing the volleyball season.

“It’s sport after sport, and with college coming up right now, I would say it’s been a little bit of a rough patch,” Malone said.

In balancing numerous responsibilities, Malone experiences additional stress and struggles with motivation and energy. Even though volleyball season has come to a close, picking back up with basketball right away gives her no time to take a mental health break to reset.

While Malone experiences many struggles as a student athlete, the court has also had positive effects on her mental health.

“[Volleyball] actually helps me a lot. I feel like volleyball is a safe space for me to be able to just go out and not have to worry about school or anything,” she said. “I can just go onto the court and focus on the sport that I love.”

Her teammates and the bond they share give Malone a sense of closeness to those who share her passion for the sport, creating an overall benefi- experience.

Karyn Tran

Unlike other UPA athletes, freshman competitive swimmer Karyn Tran competes outside of school with year-round seasons and feels like the experience is both rewarding and challenging.

With time off only on Sundays and two additional weeks off throughout the year, Tran has to manage her commitments to swimming and school to achieve her personal standards, such as straight A’s and respectable swimming times. She must also balance this with time to hang out with friends and family.

“Most of the time, when it comes to things like [swim] meets, I'm like, ‘Oh, I can't hang out because I'm swimming,’ or sometimes, I’m just too tired,” Tran said.

The time restrictions aren't the only struggle as a student athlete; Tran explains that an unproductive day at school may linger in her mind, restraining her ability to focus on swimming. Days like these may negatively impact her mental durability.

“Sometimes, if I'm distracted about stuff from school, and I don't try as hard as I could, Kevin [swim coach] yells at me, and I'll be pretty upset about it,” Tran said.

Tran tries her best to give her all to both school and practice despite the outcome of her day, but sometimes she fails to pursue this goal due to her mind becoming occupied with added responsibilities.

Tran heavily considers a doubt of many student athletes: whether the time and effort is worth it in the long run. How will sports play a role in their future if at all?

Tran might not continue to pursue her passion for competitive swimming throughout her college years as she feels like her time can be better spent pursuing new interests like her dream of play ing the violin, but she will continue to swim in college to keep in shape. However, the reason that keeps Tran actively interested in continuing this lifestyle is the development she sees in her athletic and academic performance. Although she may not see results each day, Tran enjoys the hard work that goes into balancing her schedule.

For Tran, a reward can be anything from moving up a level or qualifying for Sectionals or Futures [senior swimming championships]. Although Tran has a different outlook from some other swimmers, she explains how swimming in itself is a reward for her as it is one of her biggest passions.

“It is a little difficult, but it's worth it because it's really fun. It's rewarding to do well and to see your friends do well.” Tran said.

The progression of those around her experience is not the only benefit Tran has acquired since swimming. Tran has also expanded her skills for balancing her schedule and building her levels of communication. She believes swimming has helped her stay consistent with her time management as well as maintaining a healthy balance with her mental ances his commitments to basketball, academics and other activities such as volunteering at local health centers.

One of the biggest motivating factors that student athletes like Perez experience is their team. Having teammates who are close friends in and out of practices is a large form of support and encouragement for him.

“I'm able to play something that I very much enjoy with my friends so not only do we better each other, but we're able to joke around and have fun,” Perez said.

With four classes, two of which are AP courses, Perez typically comes home at night after late practices and nearly daily games with roughly two or more hours of incomplete work, unable to finish it earlier. Wanting to just crash in bed and rest but having so much to do can be a large struggle for him.

“There's some days where I'm just like really, really tired, really beat, [but] I know I gotta keep moving,” Perez said.

However, Perez also shares some advice on how he thinks others should balance their commitments and sports. He found it helpful to go through his class workloads and make a schedule before the start of the season and he believes this could also help others.

Tran (9) performs a backstroke during swim practice at 8 a.m. on Saturday Jan. 14, 2023. Despite the pouring rain, practice still continued as usual.

“The memories and the enjoyment that you will have…outweighs the stress by a lot, so my advice [is to] just go for it,” Perez said. “If you really want to do it, do it. Because, trust me, looking back you won't regret it.”

According to Perez, if one chooses to pursue a sport, there are many

Makenna Welch

To prevent burnout, Makenna Welch, a mental health counselor at UPA, elaborates on the importance of keeping a schedule and ensuring that there is time between various day-to-day assignments for breaks.

“Don’t ever underestimate the power of Google Calendars,” Welch said. “Honestly, just so that way, you can kind of see where your time is being allocated and what time you have left.” resources that contribute to minimizing the burnout while enjoying the good parts as well as keeping a stable balance with responsibilities. Nevertheless, having been on the team for both years of middle school and this year as a senior in high school, Perez has never once regretted his decision to join.

Welch explains how there are only so many hours in a day, and there is only so much that one person can complete, which is why budgeting time is essential. She also adds that scheduling small brain breaks can keep students in a calmer mental state to work through all their responsibilities more effectively and with more motivation. Being a student athlete comes with its moments of triumph and challenge as shared by these athletes, and it is essential to keep a healthy life balance with the support of others kept at the forefront.

“It could be with a trusted friend, it could be with a trusted adult,” Welch said. “It could be with a teacher you have a good relationship with, your coach, or even your academic counselor. But, just make sure that you’re talking to people, so that way, you don’t feel isolated.”