October 18, 2017

When it comes to sports in high school, students or fans go to support and cheer on their favorite teams. They don’t realize how much it takes to be an athlete. Darikus Welborne, a Central Kitsap football player, said that “time management, mental toughness, etc… everything that comes before or after sporting events, is very hard to deal with being an athlete.” Do you know what it takes to be a student athlete?

An athlete is someone that is proficient in sports or form of exercise. Marty Duque, a senior at Central Kitsap High School, said “ I play sports because it keeps me fit and hopefully will get a scholarship to college.” Marty Duque is involved in Cross Country, Soccer and Men’s Swimming. There are many reasons why students play sports in high school and some play select sports out of school. Playing school sports like football, baseball, swim or basketball takes a certain passion for the sport to be able to continue and finish off the season.

Colleges look at high schools as students that excel in sports, grades, attitude and what they do after school like extracurriculars or work. If you are enrolled in a sport during the year, there are grade checks. Grade checks happen every two weeks to make sure that the student that is playing sports keeping up their grades. Sports after school take a lot of a student’s time to study or do homework. Gabe Phillips, another Central Kitsap freshman football player, says “ Once my grades start dropping or I get to much on my plate, I won’t be able to do sports no more.” A common fear of a student athlete is not being able to do sports no more because they don’t have good enough grades. Students have to maintain a 2.0 GPA, according to The NCAA Eligibility Center, to be eligible for sports.

“Joining sports in high school helps develop communication skills dealing with teamwork or leadership skills”, according to Collin Smith that is enrolled to the Central Kitsap High School. A sports team doesn’t function on all cylinders if you are missing a key part to run smoothly. Football for instance, a running back can’t run the ball very well without the offensive line blocking or doing their assignment. Doing sports demand a strong system of trust, discipline and teamwork to be able to get your job done.

“A lot of people underestimate how much a student athlete has to deal with being involved with playing a sports, keeping up your grades and attending school on top of that” said Nigal Blue that is a Varsity football player for Central Kitsap High School. Sports for kids, teens and students are important because it keeps them active and healthy. A student that does sports has a higher chance of eating healthier than a student that isn’t involved in any extracurriculars after school.