A significant number of students at Cupertino High School participate in team sports. However, a large fraction of this group discontinue their athletic careers before college. Student-athletes who have a strong passion for their sport and plan to sustain their role as an athlete most likely continue their sport and play through all 4 years of highschool and beyond. Many student-athletes also play club sports outside of their school team as an extracurricular. Playing club for a sport therefore makes it a year-long commitment. Nevertheless, playing a sport in high school or a club as an extracurricular has been known to be extremely time consuming and ‘unnecessary’ if this wasn’t going to be carried onto a student’s college career in the near future.

A student typically decides to drop their sport during junior or senior year, when they are confronted with more difficult and strenuous classes. As students inch toward high school graduation, it becomes to extremely demanding to juggle between school work and their athletics. College applications also play a huge role in when a student’s daily life as they become upperclassmen. These applications require a lot of effort and precision which inevitably consumes a big portion of a student’s time.

Said varsity basketball player, senior Selena Wang, “[Playing sports] definitely decreases the amount of time I have to study. Time management has been a huge key, because you never know how long the games or practices could extend.”

Many student-athletes also play club sports outside of their school team as an extracurricular. Playing club for your sport therefore makes your sport a year-long commitment.

Giving up an aspiration as an athlete has a significant impact on students who are now more focused towards their academic achievements.

“It’s sad to think about, because I’ll definitely miss playing the team as well as the sport, but I think it might be good to move on and focus on other things,” varsity soccer player, senior Noa Nevo said.                                        

Athletics has only been a minor devotion for many student-athletes here at Cupertino High School. Abandoning a sport that a student has played for their high school career may seem to be a devastating, however, this tends to result with a student’s success in their academic fields.

Although many students believe that dropping their sport is beneficial to their future, there are also a handful of students who regret quitting their sport in high school. These certain student-athletes wish to have continued their sports throughout their years, however, didn’t receive the opportunity to do so. Sports, in many ways, can be beneficial to a student’s academics abilities. Athletics, in general, can improve one’s work habits and help with a student’s time management skills. It can also help them obtain skills that are important in everyday life, such as leadership qualities and the ability to collaborate with others.