With fall, winter and spring sports, students have a lot to handle on top of their daily lives. Junior Sam Ottwell balances both sports with school and has met his number of struggles doing as such.
Ottwell plays fall, winter and spring sports. He is featured in boys golf, boys bowling and potentially baseball, respectively. With this schedule, he is an active athlete for the majority of the school year.
Ottwell said that the largest challenge was being out of school so often, especially with the advanced classes he is taking this year. “Whenever you’re taking honors classes, like pre-calc and physics, you get so much work that you don’t know how to do some of the time and it’s really hard to catch up,” Ottwell said.
Despite the challenges, Ottwell said he wouldn’t trade being an athlete for the world. Ottwell also said he loves getting to meet new people and travel across Illinois for competitions, though this is mainly the case for golf.
Support plays an important role in Ottwell’s success. He believes that his team contributes to his accomplishments and creates an enhanced experience. “I think it’s mainly the camaraderie, like my teammates,” Ottwell said.
With being out of school so often, Ottwell finds that student athletes can only be successful if they achieve a balance between school, sports and social activities. “You definitely have to have a good routine and make sure you find a balance between school and golf or other sports, you might not always have time to do the things that you wanna do,” Ottwell said.
History teacher Todd Fortschneider often worries that some students he teaches may not receive the instruction they need. However, with Ottwell he is confident that he has a grasp of what is going on in class. “Even though I kid him and aggravate him, I know that he actually understands the information he gets,” Fortschneider said.
Ottwell’s next sport will be bowling, which has tournaments starting as early as Nov. 7.
