Your chest tightens as each of your breaths becomes strained. The anxiety heightens, peaking right at that moment when the game or match begins. Will you succeed or fall short? Every practice, every hour, leads up to this moment. Your teammates and coaches all rely on you.

Whether it’s on the court, under the lights or out on the field, athletes of all kinds face many obstacles under the looming threat of burnout. Have you ever wondered why athletes play their sports? Have you ever asked? You would assume they play because they love it, but what if you knew they silently resent the sport, contemplate quitting weekly or feel they have no choice but to play?  

After 10 years of playing tennis, the decision to continue in college or take a different path looms closer for Junior K’lanna McArn.

“It feels like there’s no out now; I’m so far in that if I try and back out then why did I even start?” McArn said. “My biggest supporter is my grandpa. He’s put so much money, so much effort and so much time into my sport. FPU wants me to play on their tennis team and is offering me a scholarship. I am super grateful for it, but is that what I really want to do? I’m at a place where I need to pick, and I’m not sure what to do.”

One of the many touted strengths of Fresno Christian students is their well-roundedness. Along with clubs, extracurriculars and multiple community involvement opportunities, students say “yes” to far more commitments in this small school than the average public school teen. Most schools hold tryouts for sports teams, whereas Fresno Christian offers the chance to play to anyone interested in the commitment. As great as this offer seems, it does lend itself to issues with students buying into a common goal.

According to recent Feather sport polls, only 31 of 168 students claim to not play a sport. The data collected showed a commonality in the top four difficulties of being an athlete in and out of season. 

#1 Time Commitment

#2 Keeping up with schoolwork

#3 Physical Demands

#4 Pressure

Time Commitment

The number one struggle for student-athletes according to the poll is the time commitment and balancing different aspects of their lives. Let’s take a look at some of the time expectations of several FC sports. 

Girls Volleyball

53 games per season – 1.5-2 hrs.

2.5 hour practices 3 days a week

5 weekend tournaments

100 hours off-season expectation

*Not included is watching game film, team bonding events, volunteerism for other games

Boys Basketball

Off season practices began a month after season ends, in the previous year. 1.5 hrs. Before school

Summer ball – Practice everyday, 1 game a week

2 hrs. Practice 3 days a week

13 multi-day tournaments pre-season

20 games League and playoff combined

Boys Baseball

28 games 3-3.5 hrs.

2.5 hour practices 2-3 days a week

*Not included: batting cage practice, hitting coaches, travel ball, volunteerism and fundraising

School Work

Free time away from the sport is crammed with homework from a majority of seven classes, each with impending deadlines and due dates. After all the work is done, athletes are left with slivers of time for anything else they enjoy. Reading, gaming, drawing, watching TV or other hobbies allow athletes time to relax and rest their minds and bodies. After a seven-hour school day, practicing for two hours, completing homework or projects and other nighttime necessities, where does time with family and friends fit in?

While their friends enjoy the nightlife, going out, watching movies or partying, the stress and lack of time restrains most athletes from joining in. Dedicating time to practicing and sacrificing their social life, the balance of time is absent. A surprising 30% of questioned athletes claim to have lost friendships due to some aspect of athletic commitment. 

Physical Demands

Aside from mental challenges, the physical difficulties are just as taxing. Injury is a given in the sports world. According to the FC poll, results reveal more than half of the student body has faced some sort of injury that has taken them out for an extended period of time.

As a three-season varsity athlete, Danielle Arndt, ‘26, has felt firsthand the repercussions sports have on athletes. Arndt has endured a severe concussion and broken her nose participating in athletics. However most recently, after joining the girls’ soccer team, she sustained an injury that altered more than her athletic journey.

“My ACL tear halted all things in my life,” Arndt said. “I was in season for three competitive sports, all of which were teams relying on me to give 110% every time I walked onto the cheer mat, soccer field or volleyball court. It took God taking my ability to perform to show me that athletic validation had dictated my self-worth.”

Pressure

Athletes are put on a pedestal for all to see. With so many eyes watching, the nerves and anxieties can be overwhelming. Mistakes are not uncommon, but with how much time is spent practicing, how can the simplest errors still occur? No matter how often something is practiced and plays are run, no one can be prepared for every scenario. It might seem easy to just hit the ball or block the player, but the chaos lies within the fast pace of the game as players make split-second decisions. It’s easy to forget that the players being watched are just as human as the people in the stands. 

With the dedication that goes into playing high school sports, sometimes the enjoyment takes a seat on the bench. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the drama and politics of athletics, losing track of why you started sports in the first place. 

For sophomore Blake Bay, running provides time to think. Although rewarding, the work that comes with it is a year-round grind.

“Running is never fun, and in summer I have to wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning so I can beat the heat,” Bay said. “There will be mornings where I ask myself why I’m doing this, but I’m reminded that I’m not chasing my own glory, but I’m chasing glory for God.”

Too many athletes feel unsupported and unable to have difficult conversations with their coaches, parents and teammates. Saying you’re burnt out or exhausted incites backlash, provoking responses like “suck it up” or “aren’t we all.” This environment of not being able to speak out, or not feeling heard when you do, has suppressed tired athletes who are too scared to express themselves. On top of everything, these students have to take on the weight of their teachers, coaches or mentors not communicating. These authoritative figures want 100% out of their player or student but forget to consider the other activities simultaneously demanding the same effort. Exams on game day or events conflicting with practices are all effects of a communication gap between the adults in these athletes’ lives.

With an obligation to so many different commitments, athletes face the threatening feeling of failure if they are unable to perform at one hundred percent in all of them. For years the bar has been set so high that overachieving student athletes feel as if they aren’t accomplishing anything, even when the overexertion pays off.

“I’m always a person who wants to do more,” Anonymous said. “I just don’t have enough time in a day, and I feel like I’m consistently not doing enough.”

This article was not written with the purpose of degrading sports, but instead highlighting the challenges that come with being an athlete. Through all the ups and downs, athletes still play and the games continue. 

A sport’s ability to create friendships, spark relationships and create opportunities is unlike anything else. The feeling of overcoming obstacles, facing rivals and winning deciding games is like no other. These challenges are what make playing sports so rewarding. 

The outside problems that plague athletes are ones that aren’t talked about enough. Pressure, balancing life, favoritism and injury are just a few of many issues thrown at athletes with the expectation that they will adapt. There is no finite solution to any of these issues, but providing understanding and opportunity for communication and support is a huge step in the right direction.

To read more from The Feather visit Column: Caleb Eldridge emphasizes the foundational skill of leading with courage and Cheer fights for recognition as a sport.

To read more about our athletes visit Guest Column: Keeper Trinity Banister reflects on monumental season.