As Greeley West’s basketball season is in full swing, questions about the schedule have arisen. Many ask, “Why were our rivalry games against Central on Thursdays instead of Fridays?” The school’s basketball teams, student sections, and cheerleaders have been asking this question for years.
Last Thursday, West played their rival Central, and the game didn’t end until almost 9:30 p.n., after a full 8-hour schedule at school. For students, especially the athletes, this isn’t sustainable.
To put it in perspective, the average student-athlete spends a full 12 hours at school (8 AM to 9 PM) just between games and academics. There are many flaws in this.
First, students are encouraged to get at least 8 hours of sleep to be their most focused selves the next day. The average student wakes up at 6 a.m. for school. If they aren’t getting home until almost 10, and then have homework (to add, most athletes are IB/AP students) that could take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, and still have to shower and eat, most athletes aren’t asleep until midnight on a game night. This means they aren’t getting enough sleep at all.
This brings me to my next point: having school the next morning. The morning after games is rough. Most athletes are disoriented, tired, sore, and just not focused. Adults believe students choose these extra curricular opportunities, and so they should just deal with it. But adults want us to be more involved with athletics, clubs and activities, to have more school spirit and to attend games, but they don’t make it easy on us to actually do that.
In addition, more students would attend games on a Friday night. Look at the football game attendance. Having West-Central basketball on Thurday left plenty of open seating in the gym when the game should have been a sell out with people standing around the track. More fans means better spirit AND more money for the schools to pay officials and support athletic budgets.
So, to fix this, why don’t we put all rivalry games on Friday nights? This would allow our athletes to get enough sleep and recover the next day without having to worry about getting up early, going to school, doing homework, or anything else involved with school. This would also allow our student section to show up to support and not have to worry about leaving early due to the same reasoning. Finally, we’d make more money. Seems like a win for all – even if your school’s team loses.
