Published Dec. 27, 2008, The Taunton Daily Gazette
EASTON—It can be tough to balance sports, school and sleep.
Just ask Ashley Langlois, who plays varsity softball at Stonehill College.
“During season you really need to be organized in order to get big projects and papers done. It’s hard when you have away games, we play double headers so there are away games when we won’t even get back to school until 11-12 at night. By the time you eat and shower you’re so tired you don’t want to write a paper,” said Langlois.
Playing a varsity sport in college involves hours of practices a week as well as lifting, conditioning, games, and travel. Add to getting involved in other school acitivites, Langlois said sleep can sometimes be the first to go.
This is not unusual among college athletes.
One study found that college students who are involved in extracurricular activities are more likely to be sleep deprived and be sleepy during the day. This can affect their academic performance, according to a research abstract presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
Eddie Vachon, a sophomore on the varsity football team at Stonehill College.
Eddie devotes hours per week to football while trying to balance his schoolwork.
“During the season we have meetings, lifting, conditioning, practice, and games. It’s hard to find time, let alone energy to get all of your work done,” said Vachon.
One study, “Learning and Earning: Working in College,” by Jonathan Orszag, found that a student who was involved more than 10 hours of extracurricular activities a week was more likely to have what is called “non-restorative sleep” which is less than six hours per night and results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Another study by Fred Danner, found the amount of hours of sleep on a school night were tied to how high or low a student’s grade point average was and how motiviated he or she was.
Anthony Tomasz, a sophomore on the varsity football team at Stonehill, said he sometimes spreads himself thin during football season as he tries to balance sports and school work.
“My GPA during football season was a 1.5 last year, my GPA out of season was a 3.2. Enough said,” said Tomasz.
Student athletes reported more stress than non-athletes in areas such as: having a boyfriend or girlfriend, finding enough time for sleep, having a lot of responsibilities, and having heavy demands from extracurricular activities, Gregory Wilson and Mary Pritchard wrote in "Comparing Sources of Stress in College Student Athletes and Non-Athletes."
Diana Rojas, a sophomore at Stonehill College keeps busy on campus as a representative for Spirit Committee, programming committee, and class committee in Student Government Association. She also participates in Swim Club, Dance Club, Education Society and Hall Council.
“Being so involved helps me get my work done because it gives me less time to procrastinate. When I stay busy I know I only have limited time for my work, so I know I have to do it during that free time,” said Rojas. “It also depends on who you surround yourself with. If the people in your organization or sport are motivated and competitive in their studies, it encourages you to focus on your studies as well.”
Lauren Swett, a sophomore at Stonehill, participates in Dance Club, Art Club, Swim Club, and also plays intramural volleyball in the spring and the fall.
“My extracurricular activities help give me a time limit on when I need to get everything done,” said Swett. “Plus it just gives me something else to do besides work. If I didn’t do any activities I would get overwhelmed by school.
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