Kevin Keene

Multimedia Journalist

 Teenagers all have many different hobbies that they benefit from and grow from. A very popular one being sports.

For different high schoolers, sports don’t have the same seriousness or importance for every person. For some, it could eventually be a possible future job, a serious activity, or just something to do with friends for fun.

Playing sports for fun on a recreational team has the most benefits.

Recreational sports teams are an opportunity for teenagers to play sports without the stress and commitment of being on a school sports team.

The long-lasting benefits that someone can obtain from recreational sports are limitless. Three benefits outweigh any advantages of playing school basketball.

The first is improving fitness without all the stress.

Though participating in school sports will also increase your fitness levels. There is an unbelievable amount of pressure to get stronger and fitter to be able to compete with some of the best players in the country.

Whereas in recreational basketball, your fitness will naturally get better as you are playing. However, you do not have to worry about staying in the best shape possible, because you won’t face as athletic or talented of players.

The second benefit of playing a recreational sport is time consumption.

On a school team, practices usually take up every weekday after school, and weekends for games; this leaves little free time to hang out with friends and family or enough time to get homework done efficiently.

If you choose to play on a recreational team, there will be no more than two practices a week, with one game on the weekend. This allows the sport to not interfere with the rest of your life and will leave time to do whatever else you want to do.

The last benefit, which is also the most important one, is the opportunity to improve social skills and form long-lasting friendships.

School sports are strict. They put unnecessary pressure and stress on players which prevents some players from forming deep positive relationships with one another.

From personal experience, I have formed countless friendships with my recreational teammates that have lasted years. Even after the season ends, we still meet up and hang out.

 I have also played on school teams, and most of those friendships didn’t last that long, especially once the season ended.

On a recreational team, since there is no extra pressure or stress weighing you down and you do not see the same people every single day of the week, it allows you to get close to one another, while not getting sick of each other.

Participating in recreational sports over school sports doesn’t only allow you to form deep emotional and trusting relationships, but makes you a better person by learning to rely on people to achieve a common goal. 

Maria Baker

Junior Editor-In-Chief

Have you ever walked through a park and seen trash on the ground? Or went to the beach and saw plastic in the ocean? It is important to be eco-friendly to help our world be safe and clean. Always trying to keep the earth in mind when outside can be difficult but when achieved, it can make a huge impact on our lives.

So what is eco-friendly? Being eco-friendly means being aware of your actions that affect the earth. Even doing a little each day can make a difference. Especially with climate change, it is important to keep our planet in our minds every day.

Here is a quick list of how to be environmentally friendly to our planet:

1. Clothes

Trying to find new and trendy clothes can be difficult sometimes but the best way to help is to reuse clothing, like going thrifting or going online to stores like Poshmark or eBay. Also, it is important to pay attention to materials, such as using cotton over polyester, because it takes longer to break down. Polyester contains microfibers that go into our ocean and can harm marine life.

2. Food

Eating locally and supporting local farmers’ markets can help reduce the use of GMOs and can also help out the community. Packaging produces a lot of waste which ultimately goes into a landfill. Eating less red meat will also reduce the amount of livestock that is killed which can also reduce the amount of waste produced.

3. Beauty

Using makeup wipes is actually harmful to the environment, it is more beneficial to use a reusable wipe or micellar water. If you need something to bring on the go, biodegradable wipes are the way to go. Again, just pay attention to brands that support eco-friendliness

4. Energy

Be sure to turn off your electronics to save power and help reduce your carbon footprint. For larger appliances, look at the energy efficiency scale.

Basically, it is easier to be safe than sorry, remember it never hurts to recycle! So when you are out and about, please be sure to pay attention to our earth to keep it safe!