There has been much speculation and many rumors about the later start time and the impact it will have on school sports starting next year. Having school get out past three, and maybe even closer to four, will cause great stress for all coaches and players involved. There simply isn’t enough time in the day (or lights in the night) to allow every team to practice. The late start time takes up the prime hours of the day, and even with the current schedule, students are left with barely enough time to finish sports, schoolwork, eat, and get to bed at a reasonable hour. The new schedule could lead to nothing short of disaster.

   The term “Student-Athlete” was coined by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) so that they could keep their athletes technically amatuer and never have to pay them. Now, this term applies and hits close to home among many high school students. So much time is spent studying and practicing that it is easy to lose sight of other aspects of life. Students are easily overwhelmed and drowned in responsibilities to the point that other aspects of their lives, such as social, will suffer.

   In the fall season, when Marching Band is still competing, freshman football, JV football, varsity football, field hockey and band all need field time. During the winter season, Boys Varsity Soccer, JV Soccer, Freshmen Soccer, Girls Varsity Soccer, and Girls JV Soccer all need field time. An average practice lasts two hours, and with daylight savings causing the sun to set earlier, the football field is the only place with enough lighting to practice after dark. Another problem is one which will be faced by baseball and softball. While daylight savings is in effect and there is a loss of sunlight at five o’clock, all three Boys Baseball Teams and the two Girls Softball Teams will only have one hour to practice after school. Some schools are planning to have before-school practice in order to compensate for the loss of  time. Compared to these other teams that will be able to practice twice as much, UC High may fall behind. It seems as if it is barely worth practicing at all.  

   There will be significant other problems posed by these changes, especially when athletes need to be released from school early in order to make it to their games on time. With the later start time, almost every sport is facing critical missed class time. This is especially true for sports which depend on sunlight; not every facility that is going to be played at will be prepared for night events. These Student-Athletes who already dedicate great amounts of their time to sports and school will be missing out on valuable instructional time, causing them to fall behind.

   A proposed way to mitigate the time lost by athletes is instituting sixth period athletics. With sixth period PE, students would have the opportunity to enjoy a full practice schedule without missing class. They also would have travel time to get to games without losing class time for other classes. The only problem with this is that students who wished to have another elective would miss out on classes which might be important for college or could be important to the student personally. If coaches or the school imposed a rule requiring athletes to take sixth period athletics it would force students to make some difficult decisions, not only about the immediate impact of their choices but for their futures as well.

   Some may argue that the benefits of having a later start time outweigh the difficulty facing sports in the future. Sports are a vital part of a child’s development and when they begin to be forced to decide between sports and scholarship, many will be quitting their sports. All of the valuable lessons that a kid learns and everything that they experience when being a part of a team might be taken away. The ultimatum created by the late start is one that nobody should have to face.