Slowly walking down the front steps to circle drive, I tentatively look for the gray SUV with my mom and soccer bag inside. I get in the car, and don’t smell fresh air for 50 minutes at best, as I travel to Northbrook. It could be gloomy, sunny, or even pouring, and I will run for an hour and a half, and then get back in the car for another 40 minutes. I have nine hours of intense exercise each week, yet I must attend P.E. because I am missing an hour on the turf. My six hours in the car a week don’t count.

Since second grade, I have spent the majority of my after school hours on the soccer field, from the Foster and Wilson turfs to the Oakbrook Polo fields. It’s been awhile since cleats weren’t on my feet.

Throughout middle school, with the light workload my soccer was never an issue. But now, the high school workload is much greater. After the school season, I was advised to try out and eventually play for a club located in Northbrook and Glenview. I accepted my spot, looking forward to improving as a soccer player, meeting new friends, and experiencing a change in environment.

With a least nine hours of soccer a week and six hours of driving to soccer, though the time I have to complete my homework is minimal, so the hour and 50 minutes I spend in P.E. a week affects me.

A few years ago, a student government proposal was passed that requires ten hours of out of school athletic activity to receive P.E. exemption. But this does not include travel time. I understand the high hour number, but since P.E. takes less than two hours a week, any organized activity that is more than that should theoretically receive the exemption.

The ten hour requirement comes from the ten hours each Parker sport has of practices a week. Yet, school sports require substantially less travel time.

Currently, the travel time discrepancy is not taken into consideration, and I don’t think this is fair. Ten hours is high, especially when not including travel time. Seven hours seem reasonable, and travel time that is more than 30 minutes should be included, as it does make an impact. Sophomores Lauren Hughes and Noah Rauschenberger both have about an hour and 30 minutes of travel time more than four times a week, and still attend P.E. twice a week.

I play soccer and basketball for Parker, and these school sports are some of my favorite activities. But with school sports, I get home hours before I do when I’m playing a club sport. For school sports, I get out of school, grab a snack, and head to practice. Then I run around for two hours, or occasionally jump on a bus to the suburbs for a game, but I’m always back before I would be if I had a club practice.

Additionally, Parker sports are simply less competitive than, and the practices are not as intense as, those for a club. Parker teams are no-cut, and every team has players who have never played the sport before. I think this is a great opportunity Parker provides, but practices are made to work for all members of the team. On the other hand, on a club team, all of the players are at a relatively equal skill level, so on my club team each day, I’m pushed to my limits.

IHSA has a law that allows athletes in 11th and 12th grade who play an out of school sport to get exemption from P.E. if the sport is registered with IHSA and the student can prove they are on a roster. Parker no longer follows this law because of the student government proposal that set the required time at ten hours.

For underclassmen like myself, it’s much better that Parker does not follow this law because it only exempts upper classmen. But next year it will be an inconvenience, and it should irritate current upperclassmen.

The P.E. department does not have exact numbers on P.E. exemption, but they said that they believe the ratio of school athletes to those that receive exemption is large. With almost 30% of the upper school participating in outside activities, it seems crazy that such a small number of people receive the exemption. Because no matter the amount of time, it is certainly more than the time the rest of the student body spends in P.E.

The concern is that without P.E. I won’t get the in-school inclusion and collaboration. But, that is outrageous. I do intense exercise for nine hours plus every week, much more than any Parker P.E. class, to say the least.

Parker’s P.E. exemption law, in theory, is good and more inclusive than the IHSA alternative. Yet the fact that driving hours don’t count is ridiculous after a certain point, as it does affect academic performance. Any student with ten hours of activity or eight hours plus of activity and two hours plus of driving each week, like myself, should get exemption. That is what is best for the student-athletes whose job it is to get their homework done and sleep each night no matter their athletic commitments.