“Student athlete; there is a reason why student comes first.” I can not even begin to describe how many times my athletic director has told my teams this. As everyone can tell, student does come before athlete. Although winning under the lights on Friday nights is an amazing feeling, your grades do have to come before all the glory of playing a sport. Every athlete is different, but we all share one thing: the love for sports. For the longest time, sports came first in my life and I did not realize how important my academics were until high school. Then, I realized that sports can only take me so far in life, and when my body cannot take the physicality anymore, my sports career will be over. Once that realization that sports will come to an end, I knew that my academics had to be better than my sports ability.

Sacrificing quality times with friends to either finish homework that you could not do because of practice or a game is a not easy. Missing family events and parties for your sport is only the beginning. Being an athlete means taking care of your body as well, and making sure you are eating right and getting enough rest. Juggling athletics and academics is rough, time management becomes a key factor in getting work done. Staying home, when everyone is at a bonfire, to study or go over your plays is a sacrifice that student athletes make all the time. Anyone can go to school and excel when they put every bit of effort into their school work. Not everyone can go to school, go to practice and/or game for 2-3 hours, study, have a social life and be a 4.0 student. Student athletes work hard, on and off the court and it is not something that is easy.