WOODBURY – The life of a student-athlete at Nonnewaug High School is fairly straightforward: go to school, and on practice days, practice right after school.
However, this isn’t the case for some people on sports teams that practice very late.
While student-athletes are balancing their time the best they can manage, it can bring some issues to light.
“Practices on a school night usually get out at around 4:30, but then we still have to pack up all the mats, put the tables back, go to the locker room, and shower. I don’t get home until 5:30,” sophomore wrestler Indigo Kimball says. “I go home and take a nap because I’m so tired. I don’t have time to do homework or sleep regularly.”A lot of students at Nonnewaug would agree that while going to late-night sporting events like basketball games are fun, it can be tiring for those athletes participating to repeatedly come home after dark.
Freshman Jazlyn DelPrincipe is an out of district basketball player from Naugatuck.
“When I have a game on a school night I would say I get home at around 9,” DelPrincipe says. “It’s a struggle trying to stay on top of it. I have to do homework in class or study hall so it’s really been a struggle because after school and basketball I’m so tired.”
However, coaches are doing their best to get their athletes back at school at an appropriate time. But it’s not always in their control.
Deborah Flaherty, boys indoor track coach, says that the time the indoor track bus arrives at school after a meet is not always consistent.
“For indoor [track] we have 15-20 teams, so we have all these events and it takes a really long time,” Flaherty says. “We have no control over how time is spent there. We’re always honest with kids up front, we’re tired, but it is what it is.”
Some athletes don’t have any struggles with doing out-of-school work, though, thanks to their ability to take advantage of in-school time to do work.
“I get home at 7:30,” freshman basketball player Michael Hartnett says. “I have time to do homework and study since I do all my homework in study hall.”
While most teams are back at school before it gets too late, Nonnewaug’s hockey and swim teams are known for having very late practices and events due factors such as having to use off-campus swimming pools and ice rinks.
“I have hockey practice from 8:40-11:15 at night. I have less time at home to do homework so I have to do my homework in study hall,” said junior Connor Segers, an NHS hockey player. “It’s helpful to have eight periods since I have a study hall to do homework and study.”
Although study halls are wonderful opportunities for NHS student-athletes to balance academics and athletics, some students aren’t quite as fortunate.
“It’s hard since I get home later,” DelPrincipe says. “I bring two other players home from practice who live in Naugatuck, or surrounding areas along the way home. I have homework for a lot of classes that need to get done that I can’t do since I don’t have any study halls on certain days.”
