Ellie Stewart

Many BSM athletes train with their team and individually.

As high school sports begin, athletes are coming back from off-season training. Everyone wants to gain an edge over their opponents. However, the question still remains, are students training too much?

Many students utilize the off-season as a way to improve and bring new skill sets to their team. However, once team practices and individual training schedules start piling up, the results may not have the same outcome. The girls’ soccer team participates in captain’s practices and camps. Senior Siena Carver also does her own individual training along with the team practices. “I also do a lot of training, workouts, and running throughout the summer,” Carver said.

Other students are also on the verge of overtraining. For those who are multi-sport athletes keeping a balanced schedule can be difficult to maintain. Many of Benilde-St. Margaret’s varsity teams require practices and weight training as a form of team bonding. This can be challenging for athletes who also want to do their own individual training, in order to better their performance. “I definitely do feel like I’m overtraining. I spend before and after school most days training,” junior Bailey Gray said.

Overtraining can lead many athletes to burn out, and some to depart from their sport entirely. As athletes get older the amount of players begins to decrease. Many people are pointing towards the fact that overtraining can lead to exhaustion. If athletes never get the chance to take a break they start to think of going to practice as a “have to” instead of a “get to” mindset, which has contributed to athletes deciding to go on another path. “I feel like the ones who really overtrain their bodies don’t feel like they want to do it anymore,” Gray said.

Over the years, more and more athletes have begun to train outside of just their team’s schedule. Everyone wants to reach their potential and help their team improve for the upcoming season. However, overtraining can lead to injuries. “Yes, I myself have pulled a hamstring before because of overtraining,” junior Cole Langevin said.

As the years have gone by sports have been getting more intense at younger ages. Between team training programs and individual practices, athletes have been getting worn down. “I feel like I am drained and by [the] time the season hits, I’m already gonna be burnt out,” Gray said.