Have you ever wondered how away games affect student athletes? Well it turns out they’re often exhausting and stressful. Athletes at our school frequently balance many things at one time, along with having only a few hours to complete academic or personal tasks due to games that are hour-long bus rides away. 

Regardless of the sport, traveling for away games and tournaments is an essential part of  successful seasons here at C.H.S. Many of these away games can be exciting, with the stimulation that comes from traveling to another school’s turf to face off in competition. Yet what many teachers and parents fail to realize is that these games can cause irregularities in students performances during school. Many away games result in buses coming back at late hours in the night, and JV athletes often stay to watch their Varsity team, which can cause delayed pickup times. Nonetheless, when the games are over, kids are regularly exhausted and ready for sleep, yet many of them must get home and spend hours doing assignments and classwork to stay afloat in their classes. 

In a recent survey, 90.9% of student athletes claimed they had experienced or seen the effects 

of late nights due to away games in their attention levels at school. Seth Collier, a sophomore varsity football player said, “After playing football, which is a very mentally and physically demanding sport for all parts of your body, it’s hard to get home and spend another two hours on homework. All of it ends up leaving me sleep deprived for the next school day.” Repercussions such as these are often leaving student athletes at a disadvantage during the school day. An anonymous replier also said “It’s harder for people to get homework done and also get sleep the night of a game. Then, they end up behind at school and too tired to work hard at sports practice.” This hints that away games causing late nights also may affect player ability during actual activity. 

As mentioned, these away games cause many problems for student athletes through all grades in our school.  However, not much can be done about it, because these late evenings stay an essential part in sports and season games. For students, it may be essential to create extra time during their day to complete work prior to these games. “If the away game is far enough. then I will do my homework on the bus and get most, if not all, of it done on the bus ride there and back,” said sophomore Sidney Gianakos, a varsity Field Hockey player. Working in times like these can relieve stress late at night. Another option would be to complete work in the library during lunch. If times in the day such as these can be used efficiently, student struggles caused by sports and away games can be reduced greatly. 

In the future it is hopeful that our Charlottesville High School student athletes can find time to finish work before games, and cut down on athlete stress-levels. Go Black Knights!