It’s a hot fall day at Webb. You are finishing up with all three blocks and leave your last class with a pile of newly assigned homework; you make your way up gym hill for your afternoon activity. Instead of finishing all the homework that weighs at the back of your mind, you know you will be rushing to your out-of-school practice directly after activity. This isn’t the first and definitely won’t be the last time you will be too tired to complete those assignments. This is the reality for Webb’s student athletes.
Student athletes around Webb struggle to maintain a balance between sports, school, and free time.
“I have very little free time,” said Alejandro Fountain (‘24) Football Captain. “I typically have a meeting for an extracurricular before practice, and then after practice, I eat dinner, drive home, do my homework, and by the time I finish, I go to sleep.”
There are also some athletes who participate in out-of-school sports.
“I normally spend about 2-3 hours doing homework at night because I do it in the car to and from practice since the commute is kind of far,” said Ava Darby (‘25). “Without being able to do my homework in the car, I don’t think that I would be able to get all my work done on time for my classes.”
Another problem is being able to get to dinner. With some afternoon activities ending as late as 6 pm, they barely have enough time to eat dinner before it closes at 6:30 pm. Then day students sit in traffic while driving home, which gives them from 7 pm onwards to complete their homework. With this busy schedule, these athletes aren’t able to sleep enough.
“I get about 4-5 hours of sleep a night due to the lengthy humanity assignments that I have,” Alejandro said.
Most student athletes believe they are balancing their time as best as possible. They might not have any time to do hobbies or hang out with friends, if they want to be able to keep up with the difficult schedule at Webb.
“I feel like I am doing the best I possibly can while trying to prioritize my free time, but I find myself overwhelmed with schoolwork,” Alejandro said.
“I feel like I am doing a good job at balancing my time,” Ava said. “I plan out when I am going to complete my homework, and I try to stay ahead on all my big assignments. If I could give advice to other athletes who are struggling with this, I would say just spend less time on your phone and get things done early.”
This issue for student athletes at Webb causes them to not have a lot of time to complete work, or they spend all their time outside of school and practice, having no time for themselves.
