Many students look to sports as a way to relieve stress, pass the time, and some are aiming to play at the highest level. Sports bring many health benefits, and I do recommend playing a sport. Preuss has celebrated their athletes, and sees sports as part of student life. However, there is another side to sports that deserves more attention: the physical and mental struggles along with the sacrifices due to being a student athlete.
When athletes start playing excessively, especially as a student, that can lead to burnout, fatigue, a decline in mental health and stress. This is especially true since students at Preuss are dealing with required AP courses. According to the article “Is the Over-Organization of Youth Sports Taking Away from Their Benefit? ” written by the American Psychiatric Association, teen athletes who work themselves tirelessly will be more likely to experience emotional ups and downs, exhaustion, and sleep loss. Some students even tie their self worth to how well they can perform in their sports, which can lead to a damage in confidence and self esteem when they get injured or make mistakes while playing at their expected level. This can eventually snowball into long term self image issues and self destructive habits.
Injuries are a major concern for athletes. According to “Sports Injury Statistics” an article published by Stanford Medicine, over thirty million children and teens suffer from sports related injuries each year. For Preuss students, an injury doesn’t just mean missing a few classes or games. It means late night study sessions and long commutes while watching their grades tank, leading to stress and a decline in mental health. Additionally the mentality of “playing through the pain” possibly worsens injuries and leads to long term health effects, and recovery can be very rough.
“I still remember waking up everyday for that month when I broke my leg, it was hell for me when the sport I loved got taken away like that. I definitely thought about ripping my cast off to play.” stated Samani Ismail (‘26).
Beyond the health aspect, Preuss is a school that values academics. Preuss students deal with rigorous AP courses and many take long commutes using the trolley. More hours of obsessive practice can lead to time lost on sleep, homework, and time spent with family and friends. It can be a painstaking cycle that leads to exhaustion
“Yeah nah, Preuss students should focus on school work more than their sports but for me. Yeah I put my sport above that. Even if I know it’s gonna affect my grades I just love the game that much.” stated student athlete Preston Sterling (‘27).
Additionally, Preuss is a school with mostly low income students, so the expensive gear that some sports require may prove to be an issue for most student athletes. With expenses for gyms, shoes, sports wear, injuries, coaching, and nutrition, these costs can add up and force some families to spend money they don’t have.
Sports can be an incredible addition to a student’s life, but it shouldn’t be their whole life. Jaylen Brown, a phenomenal basketball star winning a finals MVP and a 4 time all star doesn’t just dedicate all his time to basketball. Jaylen Brown maintained a 3.1 gpa during his high school years and a 4.0 studying at UCF. Jaylen Brown was also the youngest person to give out a lecture in Harvard in 2018. He has learned to balance out his life with multiple different things to avoid burnout like playing chess, taking care of his family, finding time to rest and recover effectively, etc. This kind of balance is extremely hard to find and I hope that Preuss students can strive to find it. Coaches and teachers can also help encourage students by encouraging rest, mental health awareness, and providing a safe space for their students. At the end of the day success in sports should not come at the cost of one’s wellbeing.
