Behind the Scenes: Sports within LHS
Sports are such a prevalent topic within varying high schools and takes a large amount of students’ time and practice. Many students cope with internal and external struggles through sports. Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Golf, etc within Leonia High School have more of an impact on students’ personal lives than known. The importance of the athletic department within our high school is beneficial to the overall mental and physical health of students. Athletic activities also contribute to academic prosperity due to the grade minimum for the ability to participate in any sports.
Many students, including Will Nyirongo, agree that sports contribute to their success within and outside of high school. Will states, “I really hated running at first. I decided to join track because my gym teacher said I would be good at it. RUNNING ALLOWS ME TO SET MY MIND FREE. I was unaware of the pain, but I learned to endure it. Running is a mental sport, and it really changed my life. As I became better and better my confidence increased. This only increased my motivation. Running has definitely added more to my life to my days than days to my life.” Will is just one of many that contribute to the overall success of sports within students’ daily lives.
The quest to ask more students about how sports affected their overall well-being continued, so it was decided to ask a fellow junior at LHS, Lorenzo Dubon, who states, “The sport of Basketball has helped me throughout my life as it allowed me to use it as a way to escape from reality; along with the fact that it’s helped me work better with people and constantly kept me in shape.” The fact that just one of many can say all these positive aspects of sports in their everyday life summarizes the welfare of athletic activities. The potential cons are vastly outnumbered by the abundant pros of sports on and off the court.
Last, but surely not least, our fellow classmate, Sebastian Vlahovic (senior), who participates in Boys Tennis had a couple of insightful words to share. Vlahovic states, “Tennis has influenced my teamwork skills, learning the importance of working together to yield a better outcome. Sports have also helped me manage time throughout my daily schedule.” Thus proving sports are such a prevalent necessity within students’ lives. Leonia High School’s hub of sports motivates, teaches, and prepares student-athletes, which can be applied to life outside of the games. Let’s all get involved in a sport to better ourselves inside and out!
