Keni Jo Burns

We don’t do workouts before school as we feel sleep is too important for recovery. If morning workouts start at 6:00 AM athletes need to wake up around 5:15 AM, give or take. We want them to have the realistic opportunity to get eight hours of sleep each night. For a 6:00 AM workout this means they would have to be asleep by 9:15 PM. This simply doesn’t happen for many young people. We get more done working out in the afternoon/early evening, without compromising on sleep, skipping breakfast, or having tired student-athletes in the classroom throughout the morning. According to the Sleep Foundation, a great number of concerns can arise when athletes do not receive adequate sleep: *Inhibited ability. In a study of male team-sport athletes who were sleep-deprived, average and total sprint times decreased. *Decreased accuracy. After sleep deprivation, male and female tennis players had decreased serve accuracy
of up to 53% when compared to performance after normal sleep. *Quicker exhaustion. In a study of male runners and volleyball players, both groups of athletes exhausted faster after sleep deprivation. *Decreased reaction time. A lack of sleep adversely affected reaction time in a studied  group of male collegiate athletes. *Difficulty learning and decision making. Executive functions are impacted by a lack of sleep. Choices such as passing the ball or taking it to the basket yourself can be more difficult or made too late. *Risk for injury. Research of middle and high school athletes revealed that a chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased rates of injury.
 *Risk for illness or immunosuppression. Poor sleep habits are associated with lower resistance to illness such as the common cold.

Successful high school athletics change a community. Go to a state tournament and watch the community close down their town to come support. It’s more than just the student-athletes too. The band, cheerleaders, alum, parents, grandparents are all greatly impacted. It is SPECIAL!