Devon Yi, a Senior Varsity volleyball player, dives into what it’s like to be a Varsity athlete and Champe. With fall varsity sports in full swing, practicing every day, and playing hard on game days, she talks through game days and non-game days.
Being an athlete takes a lot of dedication and time management, especially for varsity athletes. Each sport usually spans three months with few breaks. The discipline and coordination learned from balancing the life of a student-athlete with activities outside of school and sports can be difficult, but is definitely a great experience.
Champe has well over 250 athletes during the year, across all sports from ice hockey to e-sport
s, each one with passionate people. Varsity Volleyball player Devon Yi provides insight into what life is like as a varsity athlete by going through what her day is like for non-game days and game days.
For non-game days, Yi starts her day off with her usual morning routine of getting a good breakfast and organizing her bags to take to school. Snacks are a must-have item: “I pretty much always pack Cheez-itz,” Yi said, “and a mini Slim Jim, and some fruit.”
The first part of being a student-athlete is in the name. While athletics take up a big chunk of time, the school work and education is always the most important part of high school.
Academics always come first, and Yi shares more on what her classes are like as a senior. “This year, the workload from my classes is a lot lighter compared to junior year,” Yi said. “I still have to stay on top of all my assignments, but all my classes have been pretty interesting and fun.”
As Yi has some busy classes with lots of assignments and homework to complete along with her two sports in the fall and spring, she has mastered time management and organization.
“I pretty much always use any spare time in school to do work on assignments so I have less to do after practice,” Yi said. “After dinner I usually go straight to finishing whatever I didn’t get to do before I relax because sometimes assignments take longer than I think.”
After school, volleyball practice begins, with different practice plans depending on the day. For example, “depending on if we have a game the next day, we usually watch some film to start practice,” Yi said. “Then we do some dynamic stretching and warm up serving and receiving.”
Diving deeper into what practices are like, “After [warm ups] it usually depends on what we need to work on,” Yi said, “like defense or running offensive plays. We almost always end with scrimmaging.” The scrimmaging is a critical part of practice, because it allows for the players to have game-like reactions and situations to work through.
On game days, Yi likes to keep it the same for the most part, but
prepares her jerseys and other equipment she might need for later that day.
During the day, Yi keeps up with her school work and makes the most of her time, but if she has to leave her class early for a game, like AP Government, she plans ahead. “I usually tell my teacher in advance and do what I missed while I’m watching the junior varsity game or on the bus,” Yi said.
Pre-game meals are very important to keep athletes healthy and nourished. The team rotates through a selection of caterers. “We either get Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Jersey Mikes, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, or pizza.” Yi said. “My favorite is Tropical Smoothie Cafe.”
Game day warm-ups aren’t that much different from practices, except that Varsity has to start their warm-ups in the hallway while waiting for the J.V. team to finish their game before.
“Depending on how many sets we go to, our games can last from 45 minutes to an hour and a half,” Yi said. If the team plays against another team that is pretty equal to their level, the competitiveness is high and the game usually takes longer to complete as well.
Post-game meetings are held and the team discusses their thoughts, “Usually our coach goes around and asks what each of us thinks we did well or the team did well,” Yi said, “Then he’ll usually tell us what we have to work on at practice the next day.” This is an effective way to continue to improve on skills and always stay working.
To finish the busy day off after
getting home at 9:30 p.m. or later, Yi recalls what her night routine is. “I’ll debrief with my parents about the game then shower, finish homework, and go to bed.” Yi said. After a long day, especially with a game, taking time to rest is also important to her.
Yi is a multi-sport athlete, just like many other students at Champe. Though a tiring and hard schedule comes with being a student-athlete, sports are a great way to stay active and take a break from school. Routines and schedules look different for each person, but they all have one thing in common: great responsibility. “It takes a lot of time and endurance throughout the season, but it feels good once you finish and manage to handle everything all at once” Yi finished.
