High School Sport

There were a handful of social conditions in which high school sports emerged. Once students passed middle school and made the transition into high school, sports were taken more seriously. The athletic programs were more intensive and only the "top notch" athletes would participate in sports. Even the coaches recognized the true players and would put them into the game while others were benched. Equality for everyone wasn't an option back then, and not everyone got the chance to participate in the game of sport. Around this time is when college recruiters were serious about finding the perfect athlete. They put focus on individuals as soon as they began playing high school level sports because at this time high school athletes were considered to be the best in their age group. The objective of high school sports was to get recognized by colleges and to hopefully receive a higher education. This was usually never met due to students not wanting to participate in college athletics or because they weren't "good enough" to play in college. I know that while I was in high school, I wanted to continue playing water polo in college while receiving a higher education. I did almost everything to make this possible, but at the same time I realized that a lot of my other teammates decided to stop playing after high school. Sports for some people are strictly a high school hobby, and they don't want to continue playing while in college.

Interscholastic sport in America brings upon a lot of stress for athletes between the ages of 15-18 (high school years). There are a number of sports that require their athletes to practice two or three times a day. I remember for swim-team I had to show up to practice before school from 5am-7am and then again after school from 3pm-5pm. It was definitely hard for me and my teammates to balance school work with sports practices and meets. Not only did swim-team do this but my water polo team did as well, and I know that our school football team had 2-a-days at least three times a week. Overall it's hard for a teenager to balance their own lives, let alone adding a sport in makes things much more complicated when it comes to scheduling and making time for yourself. The only solution was to manage your time well, be prepared, and make sure that you got to wherever you needed to be that day.