The start of the school year has given Nebraska its fair share of extreme weather, affecting our environment and the sports that practice in the conditions. One team feeling the heat is the Lincoln East Varsity Softball team. The team has seen practices move time, move location, and even be canceled. The modified practice schedule and games have athletes feeling overwhelmed with the pressures of academic and athletic achievement.

“This week has definitely been rough due to all of the games,” junior Emerson Becker said. “We played almost every day this week. But this is what being a student-athlete is all about, learning to balance school and sports.”

Her teammates agree. Junior Berkley Hatten has been hard at work this week with homework, school, practice, and games.

“We have been playing multiple games after school,” Hatten said. “This doesn’t leave much time for homework. Usually it goes to school, games, then homework. Even if you are tired you finish what you have to so you don’t fall behind.”

The team has had games added to their already packed schedule due to cancellations when temperatures were in the triple digits.The weather also forced them to move practices indoors, presenting a variety of challenges.

“It can be a struggle sometimes getting through practice because there aren’t as many resources inside,” Becker said.

Not all has been negative, while the indoor practices have limited some elements of the game, the team gets to focus on some of the techniques involved in the sport of softball.

“Obviously softball is an outdoor sport, it’s supposed to be played outside, but when we are inside we get to focus on the small details,” Becker said. “We work a lot on hitting, which helps us in our games.”

Lincoln East won 5 of the 6 games they played the week of September 11th, and are ready for any challenge they may face in the remainder of the season.