Being a student-athlete can be very difficult. Having a practice every day after school, playing in a couple of games a week, plus tournaments can be time-consuming. This also includes having to travel to all of these. Travel time is another issue that adds to all the troubles of being a student-athlete. One has to balance school, practice, family, friends, and being a regular teen. It can be very stressful to navigate how to manage all of these aspects of life. Sometimes it feels impossible.
Over the years, there has been a surge in the amount of student-athletes. The increasing number of students in many sports is not an issue, but having to transport all of these athletes can be a big problem. There have been many times when different sports have to be in other cities simultaneously. This can create a great problem for the bus and van system. The amount of bus drivers has decreased from what it was in the past. Another issue is the cost. “The fuel for buses and vans will continue to increase with the additional miles between the schools,” said Mike Manderscheid, athletic director. Traveling farther will add to the cost of fuel and the bus drivers’ pay.
There isn’t just stress on the transportation aspect, but also on the people they are transporting. The stress of having to drive hours to play a game can be very hard. Some games can be an hour to two hours away. This can be super challenging for students when they have school all day, have to go on a super long bus drive, have to play in the game, and then drive all the way back. School can be hard when one is always running around going from town to town playing a sport, and not having time to do homework. The school work can add up really quickly, and this doesn’t include the struggle in school. Students can be gone for hours during the evening and get home really late because of how far they have to travel to their game. Then the next day, they have to wake up early in the morning and get to school before eight o´clock. This doesn’t even include the school work that has to get done from the classes they have. Students can become tired after having to be gone all night at a game. Colton Taylor, freshman, said, “…Time management can be really hard. Your stress levels can be higher. Also getting home late can affect you with sleep loss, which can lead to you doing poorly in school. You might be tired during the day and have less concentration in general.” This can be a great concern for students in their classes. If a student is failing any of their classes, they will not be able to participate in their sport.
Many schools are losing and gaining students which causes schools to leave and join the conference. This can be a plus, but also a minus. Many schools that have joined the school’s conference are farther away. In the past the high school has traveled to Mason City, Central Dewitt, Johnston, and Grinnell to name a few. This isn’t always the best, but having them join the conference can be good because it gives more teams a bigger opportunity to have more games. Another reason some sports might have to travel farther is the size of the team. The class the sport is put in will depend on how many athletes are in the sport.
Overall, it can be very difficult having to travel for sports, both for the athletes and the people who have to get them there. The stress can be seen on both sides and will continue as more schools decide to change their conferences and students leave the schools they were attending. The problem is only going to increase in the years to come, but hopefully, there is an easier solution to figure out what to do about the missed school time and all the money spent on transporting the athletes.
