Athletes shouldn't have to take gym

If you are in a varsity sport, at any age, you should not have to take P.E. Being an athlete is stressful enough; adding the stress of being in P.E. is unnecessary. I should know. I have been a three-sport athlete all four years of high school, varsity for two. Rest assured that we are getting the exercise we need every day after school for two or more hours. Forty minutes a day in gym is nothing compared to the hard work we put in during practices and games. Adding to this problem at Lisle Senior High School are heart rate monitors. Sophomore through senior students are required to wear these during P.E. every day. These are required to be worn in order to check that we get our heart rate to a certain zone each day. It is nearly impossible for athletes to get into the zone for 30 minutes because we are in such good shape. Personally, it is very frustrating that I have to pretty much sprint the whole gym class while my classmates, who are not in a sport, simply walk around the gym. The last problem I have with varsity athletes being in gym class is all of the injuries that result. I have seen many cases of students getting critically hurt during the day in gym class. This takes away from the team that he/she is on because he/she could miss a whole season due to an injury suffered gym class.

Alison Petkovsek

Lisle