The recognition and emphasis of sports can be a very controversial topic for many students.

Participation in sports is common amongst students and they are typically viewed highly.

“Sports are such a priority in school because of the large amount of students who participate in them,” junior Emily Prine said. “A large number of our student body participates in athletics, so a large part of our focus is also on it.”

Junior Haley George said there should be more support for certain aspects of sports.

“I think sports should be pushed more and they aren’t overemphasized, especially for girls,” George said. “From where I stand as a basketball player, when we are on the court it’s nice to have a student section cheering for us, but as many people can tell we don’t get that so I think if we got more recognition, more people would support us.”

Some students think all activities are treated equally.

“We do focus on other stuff,” sophomore Caden Cunningham said. “There’s already enough support for all the activities.”

Students also say sports could be so highly emphasized because of lack of other activities.

“I feel like there aren’t really any other activities that you can get involved in outside of classes besides sports,” junior Lieacha Cook said.

Junior Trenton Potter said that in general, sports are not overemphasized.

“They tend to emphasize a few sports that are more popular,” Potter said. “Football, baseball and basketball are usually the sports that are focused on during each of their respective seasons, yet other sports go completely unnoticed.”

Sophomore Marie Reveles added that she thinks sports are emphasized more than any other extracurricular activity.

“The focus on sports is good, but the other activities are neglected a little bit and should be focused on more,” Reveles said. “The athletes in those sports work hard and put in all those hours of blood, sweat and tears. They deserve recognition, although the same goes for students in non-athletic activities.”

While some believe that sports receive less than enough or adequate recognition, others believe that they receive too much.

“I think sports are overemphasized,” senior Thea Ferland said. “Some of the smaller groups around the school should be brought to attention more than they are. There are a lot of groups that don’t get recognized enough.”

Sophomore Ayden Smith added that many other groups need more people to join them, instead of having a small amount of people partaking in them.

“If more people put more focus on other activities, there would be more people in them,” Smith said. “If the kids knew there were more people supporting them for the activity they are doing then they would put so much effort and commitment in them.”

Some students feel activities like music, mathletes, scholar’s bowl and debate are underestimated and work equivalently as hard as athletes.

“Sometimes we should focus on music and academic activities because those can help kids focus better,” freshman Brittany Espinosa said.

Sophomore Kristen Nease said if there were more support for groups other than sports, more people would participate in those activities.

“I think most kids are afraid of being different and getting made fun of, so they don’t try it,” Nease said.