All the hours of school, practice, competition, team bonding, and extra time spent before school quickly add up. Ask any student athlete about his or her schedule, and most likely he or she would say 24 hours in a day is not enough.
Being on a school team requires commitment. The level of responsibility can motivate some to work harder, or make other students question whether the sport is worth playing.
“If I am asking you to come out and give your best effort three and a half hours a day for five weeks in the summer and hopefully 14 weeks during the season, you better know there’s going to be commitment. I think our players are, and have to be, very committed,” Aaron Towne, assistant varsity football coach, said.
According to Jared Ripoli, senior cross country runner, being involved in a school sport is a time consuming obligation. In the end, continuing with the sport can prove to be rewarding.
“My advice to freshmen and younger kids is to stick with it [their sport] and work hard. What seems hard now, if you keep with it, will seem easy and be rewarding. You’ll look back and if you love the sport, it is definitely worth it,” Ripoli said. “You are more capable than what you think you are and can work it out.”
Vivian Juarez, junior softball player, agrees that passion and love for the sport can make the time commitment easier. She also said those who are really devoted to the sport get the most out of practice time and games.
“I liked basketball, but it was just too much. I like softball and have played it for a longer time. When I played softball, I felt like the time at practice and games were shorter,” Juarez said. “A lot of us had to question whether the time put into basketball was worth it, especially if it wasn’t our favorite sport.”
Players who are dedicated know all the time put in for practice is displayed in the games and impacts the outcomes of competitions, according to Towne.
“I feel like LZ puts out a great product. We have great kids that are fun to coach and are great athletes,” Towne said. “As coaches we want to do our part and do the best we can to give our kids the best possibility to win. Hopefully all the game planning we do will put kids in situations where they can flourish and be rewarded with a victory.”
But being victorious requires sacrifices from both the players and the coaches, Towne and Ripoli say.
“I sacrifice a good amount of time for running. There’s always times when I have to run instead of go out with people. Physically we get pretty sore after practice some days and [sometimes we get] injuries, but we have to deal with it,” Ripoli said. “Sometimes I can’t go to the football game because there is a meet the next day.”
Juarez agrees that players have to make multiple sacrifices and decide whether they enjoy the sport enough to make the sacrifices.
Towne also acknowledges that there is more time put into sports than just practices and games or meets.
“If there is anybody who wants to make himself better, whether it’s coming into the weight room early or watching extra film, there’ll be a coach that will come in to help,” Towne said. “We have a big brothers program, too. Every Monday, the whole football program meets in the small auditorium. There are about 20 groups that include a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. It’s a great way to get everyone to feel like they are a part of the team.”
Ripoli admits he puts in extra time for cross country, too. He exercises and runs by himself so he can perform at his best.
“Sometimes I will go in early before school to run three miles. Individually, many of the runners run on their own on Sunday. I’ll run for five to seven miles that day, but during practice days, Monday through Saturday, we are running more, on average ten miles a day,” Ripoli said.
Many sports at school require students to give up their time during breaks, too.
“We had summer camps for five weeks in the morning for three hours. We also had a summer season and played games at New Trier,” Juarez said.
Towne said the football players also have to go to camp during the summer.
“We go four days a week for five weeks during the summer. The state of Illinois gives us 25 contact days, but we don’t use them all. One week, Monday through Saturday there is also a camp at a college, plus the regular summer camp at the school,” Towne said.
Although sports can take up a big portion of high school, they are definitely enjoyable and helpful, Ripoli says.
“I think being a part of anything, whether it’s football, golf, tennis, cheerleading, etcetera, is great. If you have a family or brotherhood like football has, it will keep you out of trouble. Because if you do something you shouldn’t be doing, it will not only affect you, but the whole team,” Towne said. “If you are involved with anything that keeps you motivated to get good grades [to be eligible to play], it’s good and worth the time.”