Kimber Lawrence

Student athletes must grapple with numerous emotions and sometimes physical struggles during a season.

Many students throughout the decades have faced difficulties with sports. It’s a common problem faced by many young athletes in their early careers. Sports can often present various challenges and obstacles that affect many of our young athletes. These obstacles can range anywhere from mental pressure to physical injuries.

As the sports season starts to unfold, it often gets harder for our student athletes to keep up with the high demands that come with being a student athlete. Samantha Mullins, Sophomore, runs track. She said “ I would say the toughest aspect of being an athlete is the mental obstacles. Personally throughout my time doing track I have experienced self-doubt, anxiety, and being able to manage pressure.”

Unfortunately, many student-athletes regularly face drawbacks such as self-doubt and anxiety. Mullins made sure to let us know exactly what gets her through these tough times. Mullins said “I would say take care of yourself with sports; it’s easy to often lose yourself. Athletes often take extreme lengths to make themselves outshine others. They spiral, such as overworking themselves, stressing themselves to the limits, And abandoning their team. So in the end I just say take care of yourself and know what you are capable of.”

However, mental pressure isn’t the only thing our student athletes tend to face. Experiencing an injury can be just a difficult experience. The physical pain can be excruciating and often has an emotional toll just as challenging. Football athlete Dakota Vinegar, senior, said  “ On top of the pain of the injury itself, you face mental resilience and physical rehabilitation.”

The emotional toll an injury has is often more severe than the physical toll for athletes. The frustration of not being able to participate in something you have so much joy and fulfillment for can be overwhelming. Vinegar said “I would say the toughest aspect of being an athlete is injuries. I experienced this when I tore my ACL and meniscus last October.”

Furthermore, finding support within a team is crucial for a team to be able to properly work together. It’s important to foster a collaborative and supportive environment. Without this, a team can not properly work together and often detach themselves from each other leading to an unsuccessful and struggling team. Clara Karsner, Sophomore, is a former volleyball player.  Karsner said, “I struggled with being able to find support within my team and my coach. My team wasn’t able to work together and often discouraged others within the group. It was a consistent battle of who was the best and if you weren’t you were looked down upon by your teammates and coach.”

Lastly, it can be disheartening when one is not able to achieve their goals. Many athletes are unable to deal with the competitive nature of sports. Leading to a desperate feeling of exhaustion. Karsner said “I felt like I wasn’t achieving what I knew I could. I joined this sport for fun in the beginning just ‘something to do,’ but I soon realized I could make something out of myself, and it was killing me that I couldn’t achieve what others on my team had been achieving since I arrived there.”

While being an athlete has its benefits it also has its flaws. Many fail to realize exactly how much athletes go through when participating in a sport.