Over winter and spring break, many families at East look forward to a nice break where they can spend time together, or maybe even celebrate a holiday together. However, this is not possible due to the intense practice schedules during break. East students are required to be at practice almost every day of the long break. Student athletes are not permitted to miss practices. Depending on the sport, players receive a penalty of having to sit on the bench for two games, or some other type of penalty, for missing practice over spring break.

My twin sister, Devyn Levin (‘22), loves to play sports, and her favorite is Lacrosse. Last year, she played on the Junior Varsity team and had a great season. However, when spring break was near approaching, instead of heading out to California like my family had planned, we were forced to stay home because my sister didn’t want to receive punishment for missing practice.

This is a sacrifice that many students have to take, but in my opinion, this is just not fair. Students should not have to be forced to sit home for sports practices. Students and coaches should be able to take a break.

I do understand that not all schools have the same time of break. Depending on the type and location of the school, break times vary. However, this is no excuse to schedule games and practices over those times. People celebrating holidays, traveling to see family or even just relaxing deserve a time to have a nice break from school.

Not only does this policy affect East student athletes, but it affects thousands of student athletes around the nation. As a resolution to this nationwide problem, coaches should not schedule practice over the breaks, and instead create a workout plan that the players should log and complete. That way, coaches know that their athletes are staying active, without having to be physically at practice.