Each athlete is different. Some work hard, some play for their future, while others play for fun. However, every athlete has some similarities. Every athlete has to sacrifice time and energy to do what they love. An athlete’s everyday routine might drastically differ from a non athlete’s, but it depends on the person if that difference is a good thing or not. It seems, regardless, that true athletes – the ones that go on to become legends – all seem to have an inherent need to improve, working non-stop.

“I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.” once stated basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

This is the attitude you find throughout professional sports. You wont find many people in the professional world who complain about training. However, if we look at high school level sports, there are many athletes who don’t particularly love training. It takes up so much of their time, can they be blamed? There are still some people who love training who wake up every morning ready to improve themselves. This desire for self improvement separates athletes and non-athletes.

“Every time I go to practice I want to get better well really every time I wake up I want to be better by the time I get back in bed. I think it should be everyone’s goal,” said multi sport athlete Collin Arey.

A lot of the time a non-athlete uses to relax, hang out with friends, or do hobbies is used as training time for athletes. Most athletes train over 10 hours a week, but the real number is likely even more.

“We practice about 10 hours a week, and no, I don’t feel like its to much. every time we can practice together helps,” said sophomore athlete Katie Kutulla.

“I spend countless hours training every day. Yes I lose time on doing other things but I’m doing what I love so I work hard to get better,” said varsity soccer player Thanuwat Kraiwan.

While non-athletes have plenty of time to work for money, some student athletes don’t have time to get a job, using all their time to training and competing.

“I just recently started working at Moo thru and its a lot of fun and its been a great experience, however it is very time consuming,” said Aaliyah Wright a junior at LHS

“I haven’t really had time to get a serious job yet because of how much time I spend training. However I’m doing what I love the most and I would rather train all day then make a few bucks,”  stated Anthony Mathis, a multi sport athlete at LHS.

So in conclusion, student athletes have to have a different mindset and mentality and give up a lot of normal high school activities. Although they all have to give up something, it’s to do what they love doing, and to them, its worth the sacrifice.