How Hard it is to be a Student-Athlete

5 hours of hard and tiring work, 7 hours of school, and need to sleep. Do student athletes have the energy or time to study and work on homework?

SOURCE: http://foothilldragonpress.org Student dealing with stress from sports and school

                                                         
                  My current hypothesis is athlete’s stress level diminishes his/her performance in school and his/her overall productivity. My research will be able to help other people become more aware of the dangers of a higher stress level and how it may harm overall productivity of an athlete.  This research will also show how athletes can accurately assess their stress levels, which is one of the most important steps to developing a healthier lifestyle.

With two and a half hours of practice every day, and weekend games that last up to eight hours. Many student athletes, specialize in and focus their attention on one sport, leading to, in many cases, physical and mental injuries. A study conducted by Frank Lu of the Graduate Institute of Physical Education at the National Taiwan Sport University discovered the different factors and aspects that cause stress on student athletes. One of the factors he looked at closely was burnout, which can lead to mental, physical and emotional stress. Junior Janine Raduechel, a Buena soccer player, also feels stress from the demands of her sports. She has almost daily practice, with no more than two days off in a week. “It’s definitely stressful, especially when playoffs come around,” she said. I will continue researching information on stress on student athletes.

I feel that stress on student athlete should be dealt with since from experience I have gone through a great amount of stress and pressure. From waking up at 5:15 in the morning for practice and then get home from practice at 5:30, your body can't move. Even though you have time to do homework, you have no energy to do anything. You mentally cannot do homework which puts more stress on you adding to the pressure of doing well in the sport. I feel that student-athletes should get some help.

DISCUSSION/FUTURE RESEARCH: 1.) Do you think that student-athletes go through more stress and pressure than a non-sport athlete? If so how much more?
2.) Do you think sports could affect student work habits or grades?