Time management is a sensitive subject for all students, let alone student-athletes. Managing time is one of the hardest challenges a student has to face starting college. It’s even harder to keep up with all the work when you are part of one of the sports in the college. Here at Seward County Community College, there are quite a few sports for both men and women, so there are a lot of student-athletes who have to deal with time management.. 

Student-athletes can struggle to prioritize school work when it comes to practices or games. It’s no surprise that they sometimes choose practice over homework or that they focus more on their sport than on their academics. At the end of the day, that’s what they came here for. But lack of consistency in academics can lead to consequences such as being excluded from games until they get back on track. 

A lot of the time it is not even the student’s intention to miss a due date or a class. It’s just the fact that many can’t seem to find a way to balance everything in their schedule. For example, organization seems to be the main issue some student-athletes have when it comes to time management. 

“It is very difficult when you don’t know how to stay organized,”said Jevic Mwanza, a student-athlete of the Saints soccer team. “Student-athletes first have to be students before being athletes.”

SCCC coaches are aware that their student-athletes have a busy schedule and that sometimes they can lose track, but they are always here to support in any way possible. 

“They have a lot on their plate so we make sure that we stay on task with them and hold them accountable for everything that they are doing, from a week-to-week basis to a month-to-month basis.” said Will Marchino, women’s basketball coach, here at SCCC.

Most of the SCCC coaches try to help their athletes stay on track with their academics through different techniques, such as making them attend study halls. 

“We make sure that they take care of their studies first and foremost,” Marchino said. “So everything is detail-oriented about study halls, grade checks, making sure that if they need help with tutors that we go and help provide these systems for them and get them set up with that stuff.”

Even though time management is challenging for many student-athletes, there are some who don’t find it hard. For example, Ana Nikolic from the Lady Saints volleyball team doesn’t have a hard time distributing her time.

 “Personally, balancing school and being an athlete is not hard because back home, I used to have a lot of responsibilities and a lot of outside activities and I was also managing doing well in school, having all A’s,” Nikolic said. “This experience now is not as hard for me as may be for other people, but I am really enjoying every second of it.”

Being a student-athlete can be exhausting and a lot of times their schedule is not leaving them any time to breathe. Time management is not only about balancing academics and sport, it is about finding a way to do all the tasks assigned  for the day and still have time for yourself.

“Here at SCCC, students have access to so many resources to help them get back on track,”  said Maria Magdalena Lopez, TRIO academic and career advisor, resident assistant manager, and a first-year seminar instructor. “Coaches, instructors, academic advisors, and campus activities are all here to support you. The key is to ask for help. If you don’t ask, you may never learn how to fix the problem. Find someone you feel comfortable with, seek their advice, and start building small, consistent habits. The earlier in the semester you start managing your time intentionally, the more confident and less overwhelmed you’ll feel. Remember, time management isn’t just about being busy; it’s about being balanced.” 

As Mwanza said: “Student-athletes first have to be students before being athletes.”