I recently talked with my friend about the ASIACs offered in the middle school. Like many other students at AES, I often wonder, “Why don’t we get to play one sport all year long?”
Although I used to think that playing one sport all year long, like soccer/football was the best way to go, I now believe that we should continue to rotate activities every quarter.
We should keep the rotating structure because of the demand for facilities and coaches. We have volleyball, table tennis, basketball, soccer, swimming, badminton, tennis, and academic games, and we do not have enough facilities or coaches to facilitate this. Who would use the tiger turf, and who would use the gym?
Schedule
Times for the use of facilities
Before school - 6:30-8:00 (practice)
8:00-8:30 getting the facilities ready for the school day (for PE classes/other uses)
School - 8:30-3:30
4:00-6:00 (practice)
ASIAC/MESAC times
M/W/F/Sat - HS
Tu/Th/Sat - MS
ES??? Wed 2:45-3:45
Which sports use which place?
Soccer TT/M SF
MS - Aug-Oct
HS - Nov-Feb
Track TT/MSF Baseball/Softball TT/MSF
Gyms
Volleyball, Basketball, and Badminton
As you see above, a lot of groups/sports use the tiger turf, MS field, and gym, and all those sports would not be able to use the different areas if sports happened year-round cause if one sport uses the tiger turf all the other sports can’t use the tiger turf.
It is better to do more than one sport. And that is a reasonable claim because you get to work out different muscles and do various activities. In soccer, you concentrate more on your legs and long-running, whereas in basketball, you mainly use your arms and do sprints. And also, according to USA baseball, Some of the benefits of playing multiple sports include Avoiding burnout, and overuse-related injuries, developing more life skills, and better confidence.
So the rotating sports structure is good. Although it is fun to have a sport year-round, keeping the system we have in place is more reasonable.