Communications High School isn’t known for its athletics. Rather, it is a school full of people with varying interests, though very few of them involve sports. With hefty coursework and extracurricular activities taking up most of students’ time, where do student athletics fall into play? For the vast majority of students, they don’t.
According to ScholarshipStats.com, a little over 7% of high school athletes go on to play a varsity sport in college. This equates to about one in 13 students. In past years at CHS, only about two people, if any, from each senior class would go on to play their varsity sport at the collegiate level.
In the Class of 2023, three students went on to pursue their sport in college. However, in the Class of 2024, which has 74 students, only two students are currently continuing their sport at the Division I collegiate level: Kaitlin Brice for field hockey and Ronit Khromchenko for tennis.
Unfortunately, many of the students at CHS have hung their jerseys up this year. People such as senior Lilly Fischer of Rumson made the decision to wave goodbye to her soccer career.
“For me, I decided to not continue my soccer career in college because I only had opportunities to play for smaller schools,” Fischer said. “My priority of a bigger-sized school fell before my sport.”
Contrary to Fischer, chemistry teacher Erin Wheeler decided to continue her soccer career at the Division III college level at The College of New Jersey after graduating high school.
“In high school, it did affect me as I had to go to a lot of tournaments and a lot of college showcases, which had time away from my friends and family,” Wheeler said. “[However], I liked the comradery and liked being a part of a team.”
The sacrifices many students need to face when it comes to playing a sport factor into why so many high school students decide to quit. According to the National Alliance for Sports, 70% of students drop sports by the time they are in high school. Burning out, rigorous academics and fear of missing out on other high school experiences are among many reasons why such a large percentage of teenagers quit their beloved sports.
While some CHS students are going on to pursue their sport beyond high school, that is a tiny minority out of the majority of students who are abandoning their sports as they leave for college.
Senior Chloe Nguyen of Eatontown comments about pursuing track and field in her last year in high school regardless of not doing it in college.
“I chose not to pursue track and field in college because I want my college experience to be academically focused and not be drained from the extra stress of sports,” Nguyen said.
