As students approach college, they are given an excessive amount of homework and tests in preparation for college.  High school students need to spend hours studying and finishing homework while attempting to focus on preparing for SAT’s and ACT’s.  Throw on top of that extra-curricular activities like high school and club sports, and this additional workload can add additional stress to student-athletes.  With multiple practices after school, along with games and tournaments, it’s hard to keep up with the school work given, as well as being able to turn in quality work.  With the amount of time athletes spend at school, practices, and games, they would benefit from an hour of study hall built into their school day.

According to Jen Pashley’s article from Skyd Magazine, high school and college students typically spend up to 10-12 hours a week practicing.  However, the hours vary according to what teams student-athletes participate in.  For example, basketball players normally practice six hours a week not including the typical two games a week.  On the other hand, gymnasts can practice for up to 24  hours a week.

 Those who participate in club sports typically practice for 6-7.5 hours a week.  With student-athletes spending this much time on sports every week, they are left with a small amount of time on homework that could cause them to lose sleep each night.  Based on Allie Bidwell’s article from U.S. News, the students are assigned about 17.5 hours worth of homework each week, which is about 3.5 hours every night.

A few high school students involved in sports were interviewed to get other perspectives about whether an extra hour of study hall would be beneficial.

“I typically spend about two hours [at practice] sometimes a little bit more depending on the day, which leaves around three hours for me to finish all my homework,” stated senior Savannah Clark, “An hour would definitely be helpful but I think part of being a student-athlete is being able to create the balance of school and your extracurriculars and still be successful.”

Some athletes try to put their stress aside and focus on creating time for themselves so they can excel in their sport as well as be a successful student.  Athletes who have been dealing with this time crunch for multiple years are aware of the best possible ways to manage their time.

Junior Mia Van Lewen, who is currently involved in both basketball and volleyball stated, “I have to go to both of my practices where I spend around five hours total not including the car rides, so I use as many hours as I need afterwards to study and complete my homework.  An extra hour of study hall would be really beneficial, so I can get my homework done ahead of time and I won’t be as stressed or have to stay up too late.”

Students are expected to maintain a high grade-point average or even exceed their limits if they are involved in sports as well as other school activities.  With a study hall, students will be able to complete a good amount of their homework, which will relieve some of the stress.

Senior Janessa Inderbitzin, who is currently involved in basketball stated, “I am hardly given enough time to study and do homework unless I stay up later.  An extra hour of study hall would benefit me because I would be forced to get my work done, which will allow me to go to bed at a reasonable time.”

Student-athletes are expected to create time for themselves and be able to be involved in sports while focusing on their school work.  If we spend most of our hours at practices or games, it is difficult to complete homework or study for upcoming tests at a reasonable hour.  With that being said, the ability to maintain a high grade-point average is strenuous on high school students.