Have you heard the phrase “student comes before athlete”? Well, we can see the truth in the phrase when we see how students have been held back from sports, for their grades. For many years, in most grade levels, we have seen many athletes cut off from sports or cut from practices to attend tutoring, and even face game suspensions due to academic related reasons.

“My academics always come first,” says Layla Pablo-Yazzie, freshman, athlete, and student at McKinley Academy.

In many schools, especially in Crownpoint, athletes have been pulled from sports and other extracurricular activities that require an impressive GPA and passing grades. The reasons they have been pulled varies from limited time for assignments, tardies that interfere with school, unexcused absences that also interfere with work, and even to personal relationships being distracting. Being in the student-athlete position myself, it teaches discipline and responsibility. Even with these responsibilities at hand, we must also understand the importance of those teachings and use them for any further decisions involving education or in life.

In the student-athlete position myself, I understand that it can be difficult, but it is manageable. But for other individuals, it can be quite challenging to fulfill. In further discussion, we will explore how it is completed and some tips for athletes to thrive.

How important is school?

When you are a student-athlete, it is important to know how important school really is. Especially when you play for a school that requires a 2.0 GPA and 0 F’s in your grade book. When you do have F’s, you get suspended from games or practices to work on your grades. If you fail to do so you get terminated from your sport. It may also come down to behavior, as behavior often determines your efforts in your academic life.

It is known that the higher your grade level, the tougher the work, so it is important to prioritize your academics. Especially at the distinguished program, Mckinley Academy.

Same school, different environment

Many students, not just from Crownpoint, in the Gallup Mckinley County School District attend Mckinley Academy. Amazingly, a vast majority of them are athletes. This leads people to wonder how important school is for those students. Layla Pablo-Yazzie, a freshman at Crownpoint High School, who is also an athlete and plays for Crownpoint, was kind enough to give us insight on those thoughts in an interview.

Mckinley Academy is assumably prolonged but exciting. So, when asked “Do you think your responsibilities can be managed?” Layla responded with, “Yes, my responsibilities can be managed. Time management is important, there’s got to be a line between your academics and whatever responsibilities you have.” Time management is more important than we think, it is not only needed in school but in everyday life. We can implement this tip into our daily life and benefit from this principle.

Curiosity also led me to my next question which was, “Do you continue your hobbies outside of your academics?” She replied with, “Yes, I do continue my hobbies outside of my academics; although, it is difficult to perform these activities consistently, as my academics always comes first and at the academy, the work is an overload and stressful.” This shows the importance of time management as a student no matter where you are set at, grade level, or origin.

In Crownpoint

Most athletes also come from Crownpoint directly, which means that they go to school at Crownpoint, take their classes at Crownpoint, and do everything at Crownpoint instead of UNM-Gallup. So, in an interview with another athlete at Crownpoint High we will also get more insight into how they manage their academics and their athletics.

For this interview, I decided to speak with Mckenzie Tsosie, a sophomore at Crownpoint High School, and athlete that plays for Crownpoint. Although he will attend Mckinley Academy, he has been a student at Crownpoint for longer. So, he seems like the perfect fit for this next interview.

To see how Mckenzie manages his responsibilities I asked, “Do you think that it is difficult to have all these responsibilities on your hands?”, he responded with “Sometimes but not all the time, also it can be difficult to remember.” He also stated that he did his favorite hobbies at a different time of day to still be enjoyable. This demonstrates that it is possible to continue personal ambitions and hobbies and still have fun.

Recognition

It is also understandable that it could be difficult, especially when you feel as if you are being over-pressured and overwhelmed. I conducted a survey in which I asked 21 student-athletes to answer the following question: “Do you think that it is difficult to manage your own responsibilities, including your sport?”

The result was anticipated, as 57.1% or 12 student-athletes said yes, and 42.95 or 9 students said no. This tells us that a break is needed every once and a while, and maybe not just during the summer. Most athletes appreciate frequent pauses like thanksgiving, winter, and spring break and have gratitude for those breaks.

In the same survey, I also asked the question, “Would you still endure the stress of school, life, mental health, people, etc., again for your sport?” and the results show the effort and discipline these athletes have with 19 or 90.5% saying yes, and 2 or 9.5% saying no.

The future

This leaves us with hope and faith in our student athletes. Students will continue to put forth the effort to accomplish their goals within school, and in games and meets. Sports is just an extension to school and is optional. But to some people, it can be so much more than that. It is a way to show our talent and our mentors something we love.

We see this as a turning point for our athletes. To encourage them to continue doing what they love. It isn’t easy, and of course we would do anything to stay on our teams, but sometimes we need to have the right motivation to keep going. It may, one day, lead us to another well-earned championship for Crownpoint.