For many freshmen, high school can be a very scary thought at first. It’s a new school, filled with new people and teachers, and it can all be very overwhelming if thought about all at once. On top of the new high school standard academic work that is immediately thrown upon freshmen, imagine having a demanding after-school sport on top of all of it.

There are many aspects for an average high schooler to juggle: hours of homework, clubs, religion-activities, leisure time, studying for tests, and, even for some, a job. However, something people tend to overlook is the devotion and time an after-school sport requires.

On average, a practice for most after school sports lasts up to 2 hours, sometimes even more. This allows the student to get home around 4:30 p.m. Even then, the student still has to complete their homework, which can last for hours, eat dinner, shower because they’re sweaty from practice and still have to be able to get the recommended amount of sleep (8-10 hours), which is nearly impossible with their schedule. Neive Skerry, freshman said, “It can be very overwhelming at times, especially when I have a track meet on a school night and have to study for an upcoming test the next day.” Most freshman varsity athletes end up going to bed around 10-11 p.m. due to their stressful schedule.

Adding to the stress, most say that on top of participating in an after-school sport, they are involved in other teams outside of school. This means that after school they would report to their after-school sport for 2 hours, and then sometimes straight to their other team, which again is 2 hours. This leads them to get home around 6-7 p.m., exhausted and stressed. Skerry, a freshman varsity track member and participant of North Kingstown girls soccer, is also involved in a recreational soccer team, Bruno United. Her schedule for Rams is very demanding as well – they practice two times a week for 3 hours. “It’s a lot to do,” Skerry said. “You’re always doing something, so you’re always busy, whether it’s school work or sports-related.”

With all these new activities going on, a new routine forms and time management comes to mind. How do they deal with both school, sports, and other activities with such little experience? Devin Libutti, a member of the girls soccer team, shed some light on the subject. “I try do homework on bus rides when it’s game day and if we just have practice, I do it after dinner. It’s difficult at times but you have to do what you have to do to make sure you don’t fall behind in either.”

After asking all four of the varsity freshman athletes if their dedication to their sport ever affected their schoolwork, they all replied with “no” except for Zack Cook. “My school work was never hurt or negatively affected by my dedication to my sport, but I could see myself struggling on how to manage it all at times,” he said.

Cook, as well as all the other freshmen varsity athletes, agree that the trick to juggling both is that one must have the same drive and motivation for both. In other words, one has to care about their school work as much as they do their sport. That way, they never fall behind in either because, if an athlete’s school work starts to slip, that said athlete can be kicked off their team. Expulsion due to academic ineligibility is the last thing any athlete wants.

Emma Rial, a freshman varsity girls lacrosse member, agreed with Cook for the most part. She said, “It was hard managing it all at first,” but she went on to say that she quickly got the hang of it and now it’s considered a routine.

Skerry said that time management has never been a problem for her because, all her life, she has been intensely involved in multiple sports and other activities. She also has multiple siblings who are involved in activities as well, so she’s very familiar with rushing around from one thing to another. Skerry said, “It’s such a routine for me now, it would be weird if I did anything else with my time now.” She claims that is the reason why she didn’t really struggle with juggling high school sports and schoolwork her freshman year.