Busy schedules can lead to ‘backpack burnout’
Students participating in sports and extracurricular activities are prone to becoming burned out over time as their schedules fill with practice, classes and, for some, a job.
As high school students and athletes get older and learn to drive, they often start to look for employment opportunities.
Eric Christy, a longtime educator at Butler High School and head coach of the Butler Varsity Football team, said quite a few of the older athletes on the team have part-time jobs.
“Definitely, the older players. You know, sometimes. The freshman, not so much,” Christy said.
Outside jobs can cause scheduling conflicts with sports as athletes learn to balance a greater number of responsibilities. Being able to relate to his team, Christy said, gives him the perspective to work with and be flexible with them. Christy graduated from Butler himself and played three different sports throughout his high school career. During that time, he also held down a part-time job.
“So, I always tell the guys, like, ‘Hey, I balanced, 2 to 3 sports, plus a job, plus weight room, so when you talk to me, I get it,’” Christy said. “I did it, you know, and it took some time. It took some effort to get that to work out, but it was a priority.”
Practices are easier to schedule during the summer months while school is out, Christy said. Three- to four-hour practices can be scheduled in the mornings four days of the week. This gives the players a consistent window of time each week for practice and weekends off to work or take weekend trips.
“That way, if they want to work weekends, they have all Friday, Saturday, Sunday … and we encourage vacations in the summer, too. That’s what they’re for,” Christy said.
Burnout can grow out of repetition for athletes. Doing the same thing every day, Christy said, can leave anybody in a rut. While combating this can look like changing workouts frequently, it’s also a priority for him — as a teacher and coach — to give his team direction.
“I try to give them a little bit of focus on life, of what’s going and the fact of, what are we really here for? You know, like what’s your purpose in life?” Christy said.
When an athlete is feeling stressed or tired, showing signs of burnout, communication is key. Christy said being able to sit his players down and talk through what’s making them feel fatigued can put them in the head space to remember what they love about the sport.
“Perspective and viewpoint, I think, is really big on this. Not thinking we’re dreading doing this, but finding something we love and we’re passionate about,” he said.
While having outside responsibilities can occasionally disrupt practice time, it isn’t something Christy views as a negative. As they grow up, he wants to teach his athletes work-life balance.
“So that way, they learn how to balance time and learn how to be good community members, good fathers, you know, good sons, good brothers to everyone they’re going to be around,” he said.
Students and athletes are encouraged to take work opportunities. Christy said employment opportunities teach students how to get a job, keep a job and pull their weight.
“I think it’s good to have work ethic, so we even have some volunteer opportunities for some of our kids if they’re in that, because it’s always good to find time to realize it’s not always our world, it’s someone else’s — we’re all sharing this place together,” said Christy.
