The life of a competitive high school athlete requires sacrifice. Time is the most precious commodity, and there is never enough. Eat; sleep; school; school-mandated sport; individual sport.
For those who compete in their respective sports outside of school, it is no less than a full-time job. In middle school, the school day would end at a reasonable 3:15 p.m., as the three required sports are woven into the day.
Once in high school, however, there is a two-credit after-school sports requirement. A graduation mandate that begins after school at 3:30 p.m., which sees some boys not returning home before 7 p.m.
Ryan Hu ’26, a freestyle ice skater turned ice dancer, knows this well.
Ryan moved from a single-sex competitive school in Melbourne, Australia to attend Haverford in sixth grade. His dream was to make Team USA.
In middle school, Hu gained permission to leave before regular dismissal to pursue his endeavor. Days were jam-packed as he’d leave school at 2:15 p.m., five days a week to embark on the hour-long traffic-laden drive to Delaware to arrive on time. Ice time is sparse and precious, as are great coaches. Hu trained with his Olympic-qualified coach until 6:00 p.m., getting home by 7 p.m. just in time for dinner, homework, and sleep.
This rhythm worked well. Until it didn’t.
To satisfy the school’s sports requirement, Hu would have to give up his skating, as there was no way for him to have time for both.
In Third Form, he chose cross country to fulfill his sports credit. Despite liking the coach and his fellow runners, attending practice every day in a sport in which he had no interest made it even more apparent how devastating it was not to skate.
“Since I was nine years old, skating has been a big part of my life,” Hu said. “Having to stop skating has deeply hurt my mind and soul.”
Should Haverford consider its athletes’ commitment to pursue their full potential? From a health perspective, these boys certainly get more than the required fitness for a healthy lifestyle. Team bonding and brotherhood undoubtedly account for Haverford’s required credits, but can’t these boys get the same in group projects woven into the school day?
Head of Upper School Mr. Mark Fifer said, “The reason for the two-sport requirement is grounded in this broad philosophy of wanting students’ engagement and connection. The requirement supports a strong culture within academics, as well as relationships with teachers and peers. Additionally, it can become difficult to parse between which activities are eligible to qualify as a sports credit versus which are not.”
In Fourth Form, Hu made the bold decision to move to Michigan, which serves as the best skating training hub in the country.
Now his training is from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., then he breaks for lunch, and then he attends all of his required online classes starting at 2:00 p.m. Most recently, he competed in the 2024 Prevagen U.S Figure Skating Championships in Columbus, Ohio, securing a silver medal win at the Novice level. To even qualify for entry, one must be in the top five in the nation at the Novice level.
I hope the school will give more flexibility to high-achieving athletes, so they are not faced with the daunting decision to either give up the sport for which they have sacrificed or be forced to skate all the way to Michigan.
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