While walking through the athletic hallway, one may find a few notable faces missing from team photos. Despite most Wilmington Friends School students opting to play a sport offered at school, there exists a small population of students who meet their athletic requirements otherwise. These students are ice skaters, hockey players, and dancers, many of whom dedicate hours to their sport.
Through a process of interviews, high school students who play sports outside of school spoke about their experience balancing school, sports, and a social life, and what it is like to play sports outside of school.
Many students who play sports outside of school practice prolifically, as Irene Kirifides ‘25, an ice skater, notes. Kirifides says, “I practice every morning at 5:30 with a coach, and then on Sundays I practice with a team.” When playing a sport outside of school there are varying levels of time and effort that one needs to achieve success. For Kirifides, a lot of her time is spent practicing ice skating.
On the other hand, there are people who practice in the afternoons and practice in different ways. Wilmington Friends School student Madi Richardson ‘27 dances; an activity that requires practice every day after school for 2-3 hours. And lastly, Tripp Young ‘25, an ice hockey player and senior who attends WFS, practices 3-5 times a week.
Different sports require different times and amounts of practice. Along with all the practice that these students have to do, they also juggle competitions, performances, and games. Young ‘25 says, “I have games every Saturday and Sunday, all year round.” Sounds like a lot, right?
Richardson ‘27 only performs with her company. Her main performance is the Nutcracker Ballet, which takes place in the winter. Because there’s not many performances throughout the year, dancers have ample time to prepare for shows.
In addition to games, practices, and performances, these student athletes have to balance their schoolwork and teenage lives with their sport.
Kirifides ‘25 says, “Because I have my practices in the morning, I have the afternoon to do all my school work.” This works well for her. However, Young ‘25 says, “I lose a lot of sleep and it’s a tricky thing to balance. Sometimes I have to skip practice so I can get all of my work done.” Being able to balance school work and sports is crucial to being successful in both. Richardson ‘27 feels she does that well and says, “I prioritize school work over dance”.
In between balancing school and sports, these students can also miss a lot of fun experiences that come with playing sports at school.
Finding time to see friends poses an additional consideration to balance. Young ‘25 says, “Yes, I find that I am not able to attend a lot of out of school events. I also am often busy on the weekends and can not hangout with kids who I’d like to.”
What about Homecoming games? To many, their energy and spirit brings lots of joy. Kirifides ‘25 says, “Sometimes I feel like I miss out on doing the fun traditions before homecoming and prom with your team. But I have a good community at ice skating, so it balances out. ”
Richardson ‘27 echoes the thoughts of her fellow athletes, saying, “I often feel like I am missing out on different club meetings, and chances to hang out with my friends and family because of my commitment to dance.” Trying to find time to navigate being a teenager, on top of sports and school can get tricky, and there are many ways to try and find equal opportunity for each.
Each student-athlete had a different answer and opinion to whether Wilmington Friends should add their sport. Kirifides ‘25 voices her wish that Friends had an ice skating team, so she could meet others who share the same passion. “But sadly I don’t think it would work because each team needs to consist of 3 people. and then you would need other schools to compete against,” says Kirifides ‘25.
Richardson ‘27 says “There wouldn’t be enough good dancers to make a good team. Also people might not take it seriously.”
In contrast to both of these ideas, Young ‘25 believes that, “Friends should have an ice hockey team”, and that, “it would be fun.” Introducing these new sports could create friendships and shared passions, though it looks like these students already have that covered.
