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Morning practices, conditioning, sore muscles and aching bones. Every athlete you’ll ever meet will tell you that it’s not easy.

It’s not easy to spend hours upon hours in the gym and the weight room pushing yourself to the max so that each day you can get a little bit better, a little bit stronger and a little bit faster.

You have to push through the conditioning, overcome the sore muscles, and ignore the injuries because that’s what comes with being an athlete. Because once you can train your body and your mind to ignore the pain, there is no opponent that can beat you.

And if you can’t be strong for yourself. You have to be strong for your team.

Being a high school athlete can have more cons than pros, but earning those wins, building those lifelong friendships and shaping yourself and the people around you into young adults with strong character are memories and experiences you will always remember.

“I love being a high school athlete,” senior volleyball, basketball and track athlete Aubrie Stenerson said. “I like to know that if I don’t have a good day at school I’ll be able to have fun at practice with my teammates.”

Being a high school athlete can be physically and mentally straining with balancing school, practices and games, but most players will tell you it’s very rewarding.

“My favorite part is being able to work hard on my sport and then getting to see the results of my hard work,” junior tennis, basketball and track athlete Aidan Jacobsen said.

Being a Panther athlete comes with an expectation of excellence in academics and athletics both.

But being a high school athlete can be difficult with balancing sports and academics when you are constantly missing school for competitions and games.

With practices every night, you don’t have as much time to do homework and with this, commitment is key to staying on top of your schoolwork while still being able to perform well on the court, mat, or field.

Staying disciplined physically and mentally can be challenging, but most high school athletes manage it well.

“I think I am fairly good at managing sports and school,” Stenerson said. “I’ve always been held to high expectations for my grades and getting my schoolwork done before we leave for sports has helped me be successful.”

If you ever ask an athlete what their favorite part of athletics is, they will either say the friendships that they make with their teammates, or their love for competition and the game itself.

“I think the competition allows you to make friends from other schools,” Jacobsen said.

No matter the sport, being an athlete is one of the most challenging, but rewarding, experiences that a high schooler will experience. Being an athlete pushes you mentally, physically and emotionally and it helps grow teenagers into independent individuals with strong work ethic.  

“I would definitely recommend it [for younger students] because it really does teach you life lessons,” Jacobsen said. “They are also really fun and it keeps your body healthy.”