The stress of attaining a sports credit when there are no sports at the school that interest you can be frustrating.  Even with the variety of sports offered at the high school, there are still plenty of student-athletes who would rather practice a sport outside of school.

Athletes who have an After School Physical Activity Contract are often athletes who are practicing a sport at a higher level than what the team offers at the school, or he or she is playing a sport that is not offered within the school. However, the process of both qualifying for and receiving a contract for an alternate sports credit can be more difficult than it sounds.

Junior Ritika Singh qualifies for a contract and has had one for the last three years at the high school, but the process was never easy for her.

“It is definitely a frustrating process because I feel like a lot of kids do sports outside of the school and they just can not get credit for them. I know that the school offers a lot of different options for sports credits, but none of them appeal to me or to a lot of my friends” Singh said.

Coordinator of Wellness Education Tina Bozeman is the person who ultimately decides whether or not a student is eligible for a sports credit contract.

“There are criteria in order to be able to qualify for a contract. One of those criteria is that you have no room in your schedule blocks A through G in order to take a Health and Fitness course,” Bozeman said. “Health and Fitness courses only meet twice a week, but nevertheless, if a student has no room, and they are involved in a physical activity involving a minimum of 40 hours a semester, they can get a contract.”

Bozeman has been in this school for two years, and she created the rule requiring no free blocks to obtain a contract.

Senior Melissa Bu participates in the DreamFar Club and is also frustrated with the process.  She does not receive credit even though she runs for significant distances.

Bu said that the mileage increases per week, but right now she is running about 35 miles a week.

“If you have a free block in your schedule, then you are mandated to take a physical education class. So even though I was doing DreamFar, I still had to take a physical education class because I had free F. That was not the case before [Bozeman] was in the school, and she just added that in. I understand she is the director, and she has the right to do that, but the problem was that there were people who were doing club sports that had free blocks and had sports contracts,” Bu said.

Junior Lisa Gherbi competes in swimming at a higher level than what is offered at BHS. It is harder for her to acquire a contract because swimming is already offered at the school.

“It is a super frustrating process because it makes no sense. If I am doing a sport outside the high school that practices more than the school’s team, then why can’t I get credit for it? Why is that a problem? I decided to join the team here this year for many reasons, one being that I did not have to go through this process again. It was too much of a hassle,” Gherbi said.

Gherbi said that the contract should change based on the amount of hours an athlete practices per week. She also thinks that it should not matter if the sport is already offered here because everyone has their own set of skills and requirements.

Although many students are frustrated with the process, Bozeman tries to keep one goal in mind.

“The biggest challenge is helping to shift the culture of what has been allowed at the high school in the past to a place where we want students to be excited about being a part of the course, as opposed to something they are trying to get away from,”  Bozeman said.