One of the most difficult parts of being a young athlete is finding the balance between athletics and academics. With all the time spent practicing or at games and events, not to mention the travelling and logistics, it can be tough to find enough time to dedicate to your academic life. Here at Ontario Virtual School, we have many student athletes, and we’re dedicated to supporting them. We also have many successful student athletes among our alumni, and a few tips that seem to have helped them in the past.
Academics and Athletics Support Each Other
Anyone dedicated to either athletics or academics will know that motivation is an important factor, and it can be doubly important when you find yourself trying to focus on both. But try to remember that school and sports go hand in hand. Many young athletes have a career goal of being recruited by a college program in their chosen sport, and know that these recruitments require not just impressive athletic skills, but also strong academic grades. Many scholars know that earning admittance to these programs can mean getting essential and lucrative scholarships which can further support their academic careers. For many aspiring young athletes, school and sports are two sides of the same coin, and seeing them as equally important aspects of your goals can help to keep you motivated for both.
Organize Your Schedule
No matter how motivated a person is, sometimes it just seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day. That’s when time management skills come into play. Careful scheduling is essential when you have a busy life. Maybe you know that a major assignment is due at the end of the month, but also know that you have important games or other sporting events in the days leading up to that. That likely means you’ll have to schedule time to complete your assignment earlier than the assigned due date. Here at Ontario Virtual School, we even have a built-in calendar feature specifically to help students plan out their schedule in ways that work for their own busy lives. By scheduling your time carefully, you can ensure that you’re always ready for those big upcoming events in your life.
Make the most of your time
Even aside from scheduling, another important time management skill is simply avoiding procrastination. It’s easy to lose a lot of time mindlessly scrolling the internet, or daydreaming, or doing all sorts of things that you might not even do if you weren’t under the stress of upcoming events and deadlines. Being able to recognize when you are doing this, and instead redirect yourself toward something more productive, can be key to balancing a busy life schedule, such as that of a student athlete.
Access Support
It can be tough to balance a busy life all on your own, but remember that you can always turn to family, friends, and even professional support services for help. Your school guidance counselors, such as those here at Ontario Virtual School, specialize in matters like this, and are happy to help you with support, advice, strategies, and knowledge of further support networks that you may find helpful.
Being a student athlete can be very rewarding, but we know that it can also be very difficult. However, with the right mindset and a few strategies, balancing school and sports can be done, and student athletes can find success in both of these aspects of their lives.