Wake up, get ready, go to school, come home, eat a snack, get changed, go to practice, come home, eat dinner, shower, do homework, study, go to bed. This is what the life of teenagers across America looks like. Well mostly. Many teens do not participate in sports. So, they don’t lose a two and a half hour chunk in their day. This time slot may not appear as much, but it’s the domino effect that is created. 

Instead of coming home and taking a break from a long day, you go straight to practice. After feeling mentally drained and struggling to focus for 2 hours at practice, you come home, eat dinner and spend time with your family. Remember to enjoy it. This is the only time you get to be with them. Then you get in the shower and prepare what you need for the next day. Next, you have a choice to make- right to homework, or sit and relax for the first time all day. You decide to relax for an hour, after all, you feel mentally drained, and after an internal battle, you convince yourself you have earned this break. You look at the time and it's already 9:00. You spend 2 hours working on homework assignments due the next day and another hour preparing for upcoming tests and quizzes. But you are in honors and AP classes, so this is what you “signed up for.” You get to bed by 12:00, only to wake up at 6:30 to repeat the cycle. 6.5 hours of sleep. How are teens your age supposed to get 8-10 hours? This vigorous schedule isn’t enough to stop you, you repeat this cycle for your love of the sport. This is just a typical day in the sport, but these athletes generally have at least 2 games a week. This time you don’t start school work until 10:30. Now you are sleeping for 5 hours.

How much recognition do high school athletes really get for the work they put in? The answer: not enough. One would think that this intensive schedule would greatly benefit one’s chances at attending a college. The truth is this will hardly make a difference. Former associate dean of admission, Princeton University, Amherst College, Meg, says “admission committees at highly selective colleges generally don’t value athletic involvement over participation in other extracurricular activities.” Obviously, it is a different case if you are continuing your sport at the collegiate level; however, in some cases, students cannot play at their dream college, or they don’t want to further their sports careers in college at all.

Therefore, is a sport really worth it for your future? Think about it. Instead of spending 3 hours a day, 7 days a week, devoted to your sport, you could spend those 21 hours studying and boosting your GPA. The GPA boost may be enough to push your application over the top, and get you into that school; whereas, the sport might not cut it.  Student-athletes deserve more recognition for the time and effort they put into their sport than what they receive. It is time for colleges and universities to change what they value. Obviously, grades are top priority, but for a student with slightly lower grades who participated in sports all 4 years of high school deserves a better chance than a student with better grades, no sports, and non-demanding extracurriculars.