Excellence is a defining characteristic at Pleasant Valley High School, with both academics and athletics being very important to our school. All students are encouraged to perform their best in their classrooms and in their sports. Athletes are expected to be in class, while also being completely focused on their sport. This dilemma is evident whenever an athlete has to miss a practice. It is not recommended among coaches, but it happens. Megan Obenauf, junior said, “I have had to skip practice before, but it was for academic reasons.” According to Obenauf, missing practice is hard because the team often does not care about the reasoning and will lose respect for the person as an athlete, regardless of whether or not the coach understands that the student’s academics must come first.
This, however, is not the case for another student, Trevon Montgomery, senior, who explained, “I have skipped practice before for my AAU basketball team.” Montgomery pointed out the reason for his skipping was not an academic one. He was punished for his actions by having to run during the next practice, and he said he learned his lesson and will not be skipping practice again anytime soon.
Coaches have a big influence on an athlete’s desire to skip practice as well. Rusty VanWetzinga, Pleasant Valley football and wrestling coach, said, “If kids are missing practice with a valid reason I don’t have a problem with it, but they need to keep in mind that if they don’t go to practice they will not get any better.” If skipping becomes a problem for an individual athlete, VanWetzinga believes a discussion between him and the athlete can be more beneficial than simply giving the athlete a physical punishment. Another coach at Pleasant Valley, David Kissack, girls swimming coach, believes, “The expectation is that the girls will be at practice. Swimming is a no cut sport, so I want all the girls at practice working as hard as they can everyday.”
When athletes are skipping practice, they are not only hurting themselves, but also their teams. It does not matter if it is an individual sport or a team sport; athletes need to practice so they can improve. Coaches advise their athletes to attend practices regularly so the team can become better together.
