High school sports are often an element many students participate in to make the most out of their high school experience. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Many students end up dropping a sport over their high school career, either voluntarily or due to certain circumstances.

A major reason why some students quit a high school sport is to have more free time and be able to enjoy life a little bit more. Being a part of the sport is a major commitment and very time consuming, leading lots of people not wanting to keep up with a rigorous schedule. Students may want to be able to enjoy the little things in life, like traveling more frequently or spending time with family. “The main reason I decided to not continue playing volleyball was to have more free time to do other things with my life. It was fun the years I did it, but I made the hard decision to quit so I could have a more open schedule,” sophomore Eva Rahn said.

Unfortunately, some students have to make the decision to quit a sport due to personal reasons, a main one being injury. Injuries are unavoidable and often can make someone have to give up a sport they love. It puts people in a very tough situation. “I’ve dropped out of a lot but because of injury…. [I] wish I could keep doing gymnastics but I can’t because of my back and hip,” senior Beth Heymans said.

Another reason that students drop sports is so that they can focus on either a new sport or a current one that takes priority. Students often play multiple sports or like to try new sports because they are versatile athletes. This leads to people finding more of a joy in one sport so they decide to put more focus towards that sport, so that they can excel and get better. Sophomore Cam Kirschner decided it was time to drop a sport so that he could put all of his focus into one sport. “I am thinking about quitting lacrosse to just focus on my favorite sport, hockey… [I] Really just want to focus on one main sport and kind of dedicate all my extra time towards it so I can get better,” Kirschner said.

Some students may love a sport, but due to the season that a sport is played, they have to choose what sport they want to place most. “I dropped out of volleyball because unfortunately volleyball and tennis were the same season and I really wanted to play tennis… I’m glad because I got to be the B squad Tennis Captain” senior Michaela Mergen said.

Dropping a sport isn’t always easy for everyone, even if playing the sport wasn’t enjoyable. There is a lot more that goes into a specific sport than the actual game itself. There are certain aspects of sports that people miss no matter what. “I miss the team bonding and the experiences you could have with the girls and working together as a team,” Rahn said.

Not all reasons people quit sports are bad, sometimes people do it because they want to try something new. This can consist of other sports, clubs, or opportunities that come up. Athletes may not have a reason to hate the sport they are playing, but a new opportunity is more intriguing. “I dropped out of lacrosse because I wanted to play frisbee with my friends… it is a lot more fun,” junior Sydney Katter said.

A common theme amongst students was that if circumstances were different, their decision to drop or quit their sport would’ve changed. If students were able to stay healthy, have a different coaching staff, or have more free time, students would continue to play the sports they were a part of. “Yeah, if I wasn’t injured, I would have definitely kept doing gymnastics 100%.. and [I] wish I could have kept doing it,” Heymans said.

Time is definitely something people want to gain when dropping a sport, but others just physically don’t have the time to do it all. Managing school, social, and personal life can be hard to juggle and there aren’t enough hours in the day to fit it all in. “[If] I had more time to focus on [lacrosse] and opportunity to play, I would definitely keep playing,” Kirschner said.