Exeter Schedule Disadvantages Athletes

By NHAN PHAN ’24

Note: a week or two ago, I talked to several student-athlete friends of mine and we entered into a conversation about how they couldn’t make club/extracurricular meetings because of their training schedules. This prompted me to take a closer look at how the Exeter schedule significantly disadvantages athletes from other leadership/engagement opportunities.

Student-athletes at Exeter know that they would have to make trade-offs in other aspects of school if they were to be a part of a junior varsity/varsity sports team; this phenomenon is nothing new. However, the extent to which this phenomenon is happening reveals much about how student-athletes here at Exeter are being robbed of extracurricular engagements outside of their sports commitments. In this op-ed, I’ll outline instances in which student-athletes have had to compromise their engagement opportunities for their sports commitments and the role that the Exeter schedule plays in exacerbating this phenomenon.

Preseason

At the start of this school year, many returning students arrived on campus a week early for one of three reasons: they were part of a fall sports team, they were student leaders (Student Council and The Exonian executive members, proctors, Community Conduct Committee members, and Student Listeners), or they were an orientation program leader for the International Student Orientation or the Exeter Equitable Experience. Student-athletes who otherwise could have been orientation or student leaders were unable to participate in those activities due to their sports training conflicts. Though efforts have been made to minimize conflicts, the extent to which it was reduced was negligible, according to athletes I’ve talked to who attended pre-season training. For example, a student-athlete who has been qualified to be an orientation leader would have had to make the choice between training with their team or skipping out on virtually all training with their team during the pre-season period. They must also take into account, long term, whether skipping out on practice would jeopardize their performance in games during the season, as well as create negative impressions within the team. Community engagement versus athletic commitment: a student-athlete should not have to make that choice.

Extracurricular Engagement

The schedule for this fall term is incredibly rigid in its layout. Most team practices end at 6:05 p.m., and if a student-athlete is also involved in music, they only have 50 minutes to both eat dinner and prepare for their music ensemble appointment. Comparing the normal Exeter schedule to the club schedule, I found out that there virtually is no way for student-athletes to be able to participate in clubs. For weekdays, except Wednesdays, the earliest club meeting slot begins at 6:00 p.m., five minutes before team practices are due to end. Even if it is moved slightly later, student-athletes would have little to no time to exit their practices, get dinner, and prepare to go to their clubs. Moreover, student-athletes, if they wish to be involved with their clubs, would have to pass out on team dinners and other special occasions which are both crucial to team-building as well as creating a bond within the sports team. On Wednesdays, clubs begin at 1:00 p.m., ten minutes after G-block ends. No one, let alone student-athletes, can grab lunch and make the quick turnaround. Student-athletes would not be able to join these clubs also because of team training commitments and preparation for Wednesday sports games. The clubs scheduled on Wednesday night (as well as Sunday, but I am not mentioning weekends in this article because of student-athletes’ sports games on Saturday; it is also worth noting, though, that most teams have unofficial practices on Sundays) may offer them some opportunities to be engaged with their clubs; however, the scope of the clubs they are able to join is significantly reduced because of their schedules. If student-athletes wish to engage more with their clubs, their schedule would be packed with classes, sports training, music, and clubs with little to no breaks in between.

Moreover, student-athletes would also have to balance their academics, sports, as well as extracurriculars. Because of the rigidity of their schedules, student-athletes would also have little time to do their basic day-to-day homework. The Exeter schedule, because of its compactness, acts also acts as a massive disincentive to the student-athletes because they would have to prioritize time to finish up on their work over engaging with their clubs (which takes up time otherwise spent on either schoolwork, social time with friends and/or teammates, or family).

Pressure

It is vital that I acknowledge the pressure that student-athletes face on a daily basis. From the perspective of coaches, practice is an unmissable part of being a member on the team. Student-athletes who may have to miss practices to attend their clubs or community engagement opportunities, especially during preseason or Wednesday afternoons, may be disadvantaged compared to other members of their team. This stems from the fact that many student-athletes believe that whether they are chosen to play in matches depends on the frequency of which they attend their practice sessions. Coaches might not play athletes who did not attend as many practice sessions as others, which puts pressure on athletes to prioritize their sports engagement above all others if they ever want to compete. To student-athletes, there is little choice.

There is a mentality that many student-athletes have: devotion to their sport and their team. If one has decided that they are going to be a student-athlete, they would be conscious of the tradeoffs that they might have to make. However, the choice between devoting 100% of their time outside classes for their sport versus spending some of that time to engage with different communities, finding out more about themselves and their identity, as well as having fun and learning new things, should not be the choice that they have to make.

Some potential solutions would be designated club hours that meet after music commitments (around 8:00 p.m.), or more clubs that are more flexible in their meeting times. This would also mean a new system of club room sign ups based around a time-slot basis. This would allow clubs to decide when they meet, as well as allow student-athletes a chance to have a say in when they can or cannot meet. The current room allocation process is based on a fixed schedule where student activities take the brunt of the scheduling for the over 150+ clubs on campus. By handing clubs more autonomy in their meeting times, club heads as well as their members can benefit. Another step forward would be the availability of more meeting rooms that are made available upon a sign-up basis. If the problem of clubs having flexible meeting times is the lack of available meeting spaces, then actively dedicating locations for club meetings can be a solution. Perhaps we can draw on the sign-up process for the Music Building’s practice rooms for inspiration.

Moreover, when looking at planning schedules for future terms, we need to take into account the flow of the day for student-athletes. After training, they are afforded one hour to have dinner as well as prepare for their music appointment. Can there be more times during the day when clubs can meet? For example, dedicated blocks for club meeting times could be a possible solution alongside the existing department and faculty meeting blocks. Either way, the main goal is for clubs to have a more pronounced influence in our schedule.

Student-athletes, like all others, deserve a chance to explore their interests outside of sports. They might be interested in engaging with communities that they identify with. They might be interested in engaging with classics clubs, debate clubs, STEM clubs, and humanities clubs. They might be interested in pursuing their own projects that might be a massive learning experience for them or something that can benefit their community. The way that the current schedule is laid out takes away those opportunities for student-athletes here at Exeter. It is about time that we give back to student-athletes the chance to develop their interests outside of sports by considering how the current (and future) schedules work for them.