Exercise is great for the human body. Without exercise the body will not perform at its best and many bad things can happen. When in high school, staying active is very difficult because of the homework and the certain classes an individual might be taking. I am an athlete at Poston Butte High School. I want to explain the how difficult a task is by being an athlete at this school. I play baseball which is an easy sport. Not only does baseball teach you to be active, but it also teaches you responsibility. Since the baseball season has started, our team has very long and late practices. By having these late practices completing homework is very difficult to do. Since our first game is on February 23rd which is a week away. We as a team, have many things to cover.

One reason why our practices are late is because as of right now, there is only one baseball field with three teams practicing. The Freshman and Junior varsity field is currently under construction. But this leaves complete chaos on the field. Even though one team might be on the field and the other team in the batting cages, there is just not enough room for the Varsity team. So, the Varsity team has to wait for both teams to finish their practice. Our practice starts at 5 and ends around 8. For me, its around 8:45. That's because I stay after and get extra practice. By doing this I now get home around nine o'clock.

The reason for our long practices are for many reasons. There are many things a baseball player and team needs to practice for example; fielding ground balls, hitting, bunt defense and hitting your cut off man. If we want to perfect these tasks, it will take a lot of time and practice. From past events, our team knows that our bunt defense is terrible. We have a tough time fielding the ball and throwing the ball less then 90 feet. Every time during a game, someone ends up throwing the ball away or they don't field the ball cleanly. Hitting is almost an everyday thing in practice. Hitting form is very difficult to maintain. Hitting is all about timing. By hitting everyday, timing is improved and picking up the ball when it is being delivered from the pitcher. Fielding a ground ball is one of the most important things in baseball. When fielding the grounder, a player needs to get low, get his glove down out in front of him, and most of all not to be scared of the ball. But when I practice taking grounders, I looked for the bad spots on the field. If I was asked right now where the bad spots are on the field, I could tell who ever asks me.

With these two things being important in my practice schedule, it is very exhausting. With it being very exhausting and getting home let, it is difficult to be able to do my homework. When I get home all I want to do is eat and go to bed. But, I have to be eligible to play games so I have to stay up longer. Usually I do not complete my homework so I have to wake up early or do it in a different class. By me staying up late and doing homework, the next day I am even more tired. This goes on and on until one night I don't complete my homework. It is very bad not to do your homework. In some classes, homework doesn't really matter, but it will affect your grade. Homework is supposed to help you get better so when you take a test you will get an A. So by staying up late trying to complete homework, is even harder the next day.

Baseball can be very difficult in many ways. The thing most affected by this is being able to perform in the classroom and doing your homework. Staying up late is not good for the human body because the body needs time to rest. Practicing is good for the mind because by practicing, the task will come easy. Being able to play baseball and still keep the grades up in the classroom is priceless.