Along with the new building, many other significant changes have approached the Eagles this year. One of those changes is an alleged new policy prohibiting student athletes from early release in class when there is a following game. This change has sparked mixed reactions among students and staff, with some athletes concerned about the stress of managing both schoolwork and sports.
This “new policy” has been reported by multiple sources, including Addi Roper, a sophomore on the JV Volleyball team. “[Sports] teaches you to be timely, on top of things, but when you’re not allowed to leave early, you are late a lot, which kind of goes back on what people are trying to teach you and defeats the purpose,” said Roper.
Roper feels the new policy has disrupted her game-day routine, making it more rushed and difficult to arrive on time and fully prepared. “I play sophomore a lot of times, and sophomore is first, so it’s a rush to get there and get changed and get your shoes on and make sure everything’s ready to go.” Roper explained that the excusal process did need some regulation, though. “I feel like the reason they took it away is because sometimes we’d get checked out thirty or fourty minutes early, which they thought was extreme, and I think that’s fair to an extent.” When asked if she had any solutions in mind to remedy this, Roper said, “Even like 10-20 minutes early would be helpful to getting there on time. [In] the last 10-20 minutes of class, you wouldn’t be missing much, so I think that would help.”
Roper says excusal times should revolve around how far the rival school is. “If it was right down the road like Olympus or Highland, then maybe, but when we go to West, or East, or schools that are further away, even around ten to fifteen minutes would help,” she expressed.
Sam White, the assistant athletic director, also had a lot to say about the policy, starting with the fact that it actually isn’t a new policy. Athletic directors have simply just decided to be tougher on excusals this year. When asked about the change, he explained, “We’ve tightened the reins, because [when] you give people an inch, they take a mile.” White then brought up the specific issue that really caught their attention and inspired this shift. “We had some captains that were sending out GroupMe messages to their teams saying that they were excusing the people on the team like 30 minutes before they were actually supposed to be excused,” said White. None of these excusals were legitimate or verified by any sort of teacher or coach, and that was a problem. He added, “We had to tighten the reins, because some people were abusing the ability to get out a little bit early.”
White also spoke on the process of changing these types of rules and expectations, and it takes tons of consulting and evaluation. He explained, “We’ve looked at the schedules now, we’ve talked to the coaches, and we’ve said, ‘Alright, what’s the appropriate amount of time you need to get ready for a game or to get on the bus,’ and we’ve figured it out.”
The Skyline Athletic Department is also taking a stricter approach to attendance and school participation. White introduced another policy, saying, “We’re encouraging student athletes to go to school. If they’re not in class on the day of a game, they’re not playing in the game that day. They need to be in class as much as possible.” Coaches have noticed a concerning attitude developing among Skyline’s athletes. “It’s called an ‘extracurricular sport’ for a reason; it’s extra, and it’s after school. You don’t get to miss school for things; you don’t get to take periods off. You don’t have a long lunch; you don’t get to be tardy. The expectation is just the same as everybody else, so we’re kind of trying to change that mentality.”
White feels that he and the rest of the Athletic Department are working to make sure they cultivate a successful athletic and academic environment, helping students balance both. He also has a message he would like to express to all student athletes at Skyline: “It’s super important that you’re in class, you’re focused, you’re working on the things you need to work on, get your tests done, get your quizzes done before you leave. Not after. Keep working hard, keep going to practice, keep doing your homework and turning stuff in.”
