Imagine that you commit to a sport, and you spend insane amounts of time on it, and then your school expects you to take another gym class to get a “physical education.” Hello?

Last September and October, I was not able to attend school for a total of about 16 days due to tennis. This also is not counting the matches that we had right after school. If we did not have any matches that day, which was an extremely rare case, we would have a two hour practice, and this continued for two and a half month period. Although, when we are done with season, we just start practicing again, for the off-season.

According to Mayo Clinic, at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity.

During the season, we participate in 14-21 hours of physical activity each week. This is about 1,110 minutes over the moderate aerobic activity suggestion. After all, this time that we are spending in the gym and on the court, the athletes of LHS are expected to take a gym class. As a student-athlete you learn how to use your time wisely, and another “physical education class,” is not a good use of time, while struggling to meet your school goals as well.  

Students that participate in a sport at the varsity level, should not be required to take a gym class. I understand that there are gym teachers at LHS that rely on the students to take a gym class so their job is secure, but there are over 2,000 students at LHS and not many students participate in a high intensity sport at the varsity level athletes out of those 2,000. Along with that, the student-athletes are still welcome to enroll in P.E classes, but the credit requirement should be filled if one is fully committed to another school sport. Student-athletes that are extremely committed to their sport, should receive a credit for their participation.