As you walk around AHS after school, you are likely to see hoards of students going to their sports practice. But what you are not seeing is the declining amounts of students who are playing sports.
Some students are opting to go to the gym instead of playing school sports. With the amount of homework students receive on a daily basis, many are starting to choose to quit their team sport, and working out instead on their own time.
“I like being able to work out on my own time without being strained for time with two and a half hour practices,” sophomore Gaby Payne said.
With the extra time that would be reserved for practice, students have more time to stay after school with teachers without worrying about missing practice, and are able to get all of their homework done, and then go to the gym in their spare time.
Going to the gym instead of practice offers students a way to still get a workout in but on their own time instead of having to work around a practice schedule.
Other students are not convinced going to the gym is better than participating in school sports because it is a door opener to college scholarships, a team atmosphere and a chance to be pushed by other team members and competitors.
“I like the team atmosphere and how my team can push me into working harder. I don’t think going to the gym can do that for anyone,” junior Allie Vogus said.
Senior Christina Uglietta feels the same way, but in the end, she decided to start going to the gym instead of staying on the AHS field hockey team because it worked better with her schedule and allowed her more time to do other things. Being an IB student and a full-time athlete can be extremely overwhelming.
“I started going to the gym instead because I took a lot of IB classes and was very busy,” Uglietta said. “I do miss the team aspect of sports and team dinners,though.”
With the amount of work students have to do for school, students are beginning to have to make the tough decision to quit their school sports’ teams and instead go to the gym on their own time.