As discussed in stories by Shelbee Burke and Kelsey Horton, many students believe that clubs and activities hide in the shadow of sports at AHS. To observe some other opinions, I talked to a couple athletes at AHS.

All of the athletes that were interviewed did believe that sports overshadow clubs/activities; however, some believed that they rightfully should. One wrestler stated that “I do [believe that sports overshadow clubs/activities] because we, [athletes], represent our schools more often.” On the other hand, a senior football player stated that “Sports are viewed as more important than clubs or activities due to the support around them. Clubs or activities do not receive the attention they deserve simply because there is a lack of support from fans.” 

Another question that was asked was if they personally believe that sports are more important than clubs/activities. In response to that question, a junior basketball player stated, “Nothing is more important. Everything has a different budget that makes it seem that way, but you also have to remember that some sports have more people than others.” Again, there are responses on both sides of that matter. The same wrestler simply said that he thinks sports are more important. 

The final question was if they think that it is fair that most sports have a four year jersey rotation, but choir and band are on a 20 year uniform rotation. The senior football player and junior basketball player both agree that both rotation times are unfair. The football player said, “Jerseys or uniforms should be replaced when needed, not when wanted.” The junior basketball player responded, “I wish it was more like 10-15 year rotation for everything.” However, the wrestler that was interviewed believes that “It is fair that we, [athletes], get a quicker uniform rotation because we, [athletes], fundraise for them over the years. The choir and band do fundraise, so they should put it toward their new uniforms.” Actually, Alliance Public Schools does not allow any activity to fundraise for uniforms. It has been stated that uniforms are only to be purchased by the school. 

After talking to some athletes, the majority believe that sports shouldn’t overshadow clubs/activities, but they unanimously agree that sports do in fact overshadow them. It is clear to see that no one is happy with how this matter is perceived. So the question is, how do we fix it?