Heavy breathing, heart pumping, sweat dripping and the motivation to rush home to see one’s family.

Athletes oftentimes have practices or tournaments during holiday breaks, which can, at times, get in the way of family events. Some athletes don’t care to miss their family events due to the dedication they have for their sport, while other athletes chose to prioritize family over practices, games and sports.

“I do not miss family parties because of practice because coach Borrero believes that family comes first, but I have decided to miss family events because of competitions,” junior wrestler Michael Volkmar said. “I feel okay when I miss family events because it’s my decision to miss it, and I am usually focused on the competition.”

Athletes have to juggle their time in order to be able to go to practices and family events. Sometimes, it might be difficult for the athletes, such as Volkmar, to make time for both the sport and the family that they love. During the holiday season, there are athletes who struggle to decide whether or not they should go to that practice or if they should spend their holiday breaks with their families.

“We have an out of town trip [for basketball] this year, and I don’t think it will get in the way of family time because my family supports the sports that I play and my dedication to the sport,” junior basketball player Austin Andrews said. “My parents always say that you have your family for the rest of your life and you can only play sports for so long.”

At times, athletes’ dedication to their sport shows when they choose the certain sport they play over their family. For some, families understand that a sport might be important, so they allow for them to miss events.

“I always make up time with my family or I go to the parties later when the game or practice is done,” Andrews said. “Sometimes I wish that I were with my family rather than at basketball because without them I don’t know where I would be today.”

To some, family is everything; they may miss out on family events, but they want to make up for lost time. Most families are stronger when they understand one another and they see how much something, like that sport, means to an individual member, particularly that athlete.

“We have practices over break this year because conference is the week after break,” junior dancer Amelia Neumann said. “My family almost always goes up North to Minnesota for Christmas, and because I have practice we aren’t able to go up North this year to see my family in Minnesota. It makes me upset because I only get to see my family once a year, and unfortunately I won’t be able to see them this year.”

For many, sports during this time can either be enjoyable or a burden to an athlete’s family. Along with potentially not spending time with family members, athletes may experience hard practices or they might have an easy break.

“Borrero lets us do what we want on holidays and allows weight changes for the holidays dedicated to eating,” Volkmar said. “Practices are not bad, usually we have a game day put in somewhere, but there are some days where you don’t want to be there, but you just have to push through.”

For Volkmar, the day depends on how the practice will go. It is not a known fact that during breaks practices will be hard, but some days they may be more difficult than the last; however, for Neumann, practices are fun and exciting during the holidays.

“Practices during breaks are basically the same as normal practices, which are always hard, but they tend to be more fun just because we are in the holiday spirit,” Neumann said. “We always stretch to Christmas music during the winter season to get us pumped up and excited for practice, as well as sometimes even dancing to Christmas music.”

During the holidays, athletes’ sports may be difficult as they are thinking about their family while simultaneously thinking about the next drill that they will be doing at practice during their holiday break.