The sound of cheers rings out around the stadium field as teams score a touchdown. The band does its signature piece, lifting the atmosphere and creating an intimidating wave of sound. Cheerleaders and Sweethearts perform, all putting in an effort to do the best they can. The usual scene of the football game is familiar, but instead of the recognizable Friday night lights, it’s been moved forward, being Thursday night lights.
After a successful 40-7 Thursday-night battle against Klein Collins, the Wildkats have one home game until they travel again on a Thursday night to face The Woodlands High School at Woodforest Stadium on Sept. 19. With long away games being on Thursdays, many students struggle to meet the constant demand of schoolwork along with the game. The workload piles up or long practices hinder the time people have to keep grades up.
“Most of the time for my classes like biology, where there are a bunch of labs, or my college algebra class where there are a lot of daily math assignments all due on Friday,” junior cheerleader Kyndall Schniffer said. “I have to do everything days earlier because I don’t have time to do it at the game.”
The long times that students spend at the away games cause many to not get home until very late, and the early mornings the next day, lead to higher rates of sleep deprivation. Performance in school is hindered, and there is a higher rate of people absent.
“It really depends on where the game is and how it goes, but typically we don’t leave the school until close to 10:40 P.M., and I don’t usually get home until midnight, maybe even 1:00 A.M. at times,” sophomore varsity player AJ Edwards said. “I try to wake up a little earlier sometimes to make sure I’m not completely dead on my feet before school starts.”
Students who have to deal with long late Thursday nights are responsible for the weight of games and academic performance at the same time. It can be challenging to find a balance between the two, but not impossible.
“If you know in advance that you are going to be too busy to do homework on a school night, try to plan for that by setting up things like a to-do list or using a planner,” DC US History teacher Whitney Van Cleave said. “Students need to use the information that teachers give them in Canvas or in-class so they know when to prioritize what work needs to be done first, in order to get everything done efficiently!”
