Being a student-athlete is hard for some students with work, school, and practice. So how do they do it all? Varsity softballer Annabelle Kraai recently stated, ”I feel very prepared for school because, after practice or games, I make sure to buckle down and do my schoolwork.” 

According to Child Fund Rugby, an article about the positive impact of sports on education, “Research demonstrates that participation in sport and physical activity, both inside and outside the classroom, positively impacts students’ academic performance and efficiency.” 

Daily acts of physical education were shown to boost not only attitude but also sleep and release of tension. All of these boosts can have a good impact on educational outcomes due to improving brain activity and feeling more energetic. 

“My grades were not really affected during the softball season because I made sure to stay on task because I deeply care about my grades and sports,” explains Kraai. 

School, games, and practice can be hard as it is, but most student-athletes at Delta High School have jobs as well. “I do work sometimes during the sports season,” said Kraai. “I also aim to keep up with school, work, and sports and try my best to talk to my employees if I can’t make it to work that day.”  

“School sports participation was significantly associated with academic achievement, positive body-image perceptions, and self-esteem. Overall, participation in school sports demonstrated a significant standardized effect (.225) on academic achievement,” stated by The University of Chicago Press Journals, a source about the academic achievement in Middle school and High school.

Many students have also faced many struggles with their grades while playing a sport. Most don’t care to find the time for studies, and their grades show these struggles. Being a student-athlete in high school is all about putting school first to then achieve in athletics.