Sports offer immense benefits, whether in middle school, high school, or college. These include promoting stronger bones, healthier menstruation, reduced risk of obesity, high body esteem, fewer chronic illnesses, among others.
But sports in schools can be very demanding both physically and academically, with early morning training sessions and sometimes long-distance traveling. This makes it very difficult to balance your sports activities with your academics. Finding the perfect balance between academics and sports activities is easier said than done, but the following tips can help you stay on the right track.
Get Organized and Stay Organized
The first thing you need to do is plan your activities based on your academic calendar. While you can rely on your phone, getting a big desk calendar for school work and sports might be a good idea – or even better, try using both. Take the time to indicate all due dates for expected class works, projects, tests, and other academic work, and do the same for your sports activities. You can mark these events on your phone calendar and set prior reminders. But you should also mark them on your desk calendar just in case. Be sure to revisit your calendar every week to make any needed changes.
Manage your Time Efficiently
Once you have a clear idea of what your academic and sports calendar looks like, the next step is to manage your time efficiently. Being active in school sports means that so many activities will need your time – classwork, tests, projects, training sessions, actual games, and others. Completing all these activities will probably leave you with little time for yourself.
Your calendar should tell you how much time you can have for yourself each week, and it’s your job to determine how much of your time you should devote to rest and personal studies.
Use your Weekends Wisely
Chances are, you might miss one or two classes, depending on how demanding your sports activities are. But waste no time trying to catch up as soon as you can during the week. This way, you can use your weekends to stay ahead instead of catching up. Spend your weekends reading the topics or chapters for the coming week and start preparing for your projects and tests. And yes, that means you might have to skip a weekend party or two when necessary. If you have to travel during the weekend, try taking your books along so that you can study on the road.
Make Safety your Prime Focus
If you’re taking part in more physically demanding sports activities, you need to put your safety first. The last thing you want is to experience serious injuries that may affect your academics. So, be sure to keep yourself hydrated and always wear your safety gear during sports. Should someone cause you serious injury maliciously during any physical game or training session, do not hesitate to seek legal representation for personal injury matters.
Also, ensure that you give your body enough rest to recover after any physical activity.
