Imagine juggling mounds of school work, a personal life, and family commitments, all while trying to perform in a physically demanding sport that requires all of the attention, and leaves little time for other activities. Having so many games is a leading cause of why so many players are feeling overwhelmed. Constantly being at the fields drags players away from school work, family, and friends, forcing student-athletes to push aside their responsibilities to perform in their sport.

The main impact of the substantial amount of games is not getting enough sleep. Players have multiple away games every week, leading them to get home super late at night. The lack of sleep causes athletes to have difficulties in focusing on their academics during the school day.

With no time to spare, athletes begin to struggle to perform on their school work. These players get no time to be home, sit down, do homework, or study. This makes it extremely hard for players to maintain good grades and high-grade point averages. Yet, teachers, coaches, and parents hold the highest expectations for these student-athletes.

Lowering the amount of games in the week opens up many opportunities for players and players’ families. Players would have more time to practice and improve their craft, as well as have time to do keep up with their school work.

The failure of not getting good grades and improving in your sport can affect mental health. The pressure to succeed becomes unbearable for young and underdeveloped students struggling under an impossible load of tasks. This leads to many big problems that these athletes should not have to deal with.

On top of that, an abundant amount of games a week causes more injuries and stress on the player’s bodies. Having to perform the harsh physical activity that games require hurts athletes, as they don’t have any time to rest and give their bodies a break.

Getting rid of the ridiculous amount of games a week would release all the stress put on athletes to perform in their sport and keep their grades up. Having three-plus games a week takes its toll on athletes, especially since most games are played away, with bus rides being up to 2 hours. 

With all the hardships that come with being a teenager, these players are being overworked due to bad scheduling. There’s a clear fix to this issue, and it should be done for the sake of the student-athletes.