Going to the football games to cheer on your favorite player is a fun thing to do, but do you know what the players go through before their big game? A lot of the time the players on our team get tons of criticism for the outcome of the game that day.

There is so much stress that gets put on athletes the sports season. Coach Ballard says “Our team tries their hardest out on the field and whether we win or lose, it’s their effort that counts.”

Freshman player Dominic Johnson explains “yeah it can be stressful when we (the team) get told constantly that we have to win our games”. We don’t really understand how much stress is put on our players.

Sometimes we forget about how much work it takes to be a player on our sports teams here at Kearns high school. Our players practice really hard and for a long time, some day’s even hours.

On top of that they might have homework from six different classes all due the next day or so, what they need to get done still. Maybe they need to study for an important test the next day but they just don’t have time.

Stress isn’t the only factor in this problem. Time is also a major part of an athlete’s life. Some of our older junior and senior player may have jobs straight after practice.

When do our athletes get time to spend with their families? When do they get time for a social life? When do they get time for themselves?
There are only twenty-four hours in a day, and that’s not enough. Maybe if we all stop critiquing our players and support them, they may be less stressed.