Editors Note: The Chronicle acknowledges that in the past we have missed out on sports coverage so this year we are going to focus on covering more of the athletics at Franklin that has been under our radar..

Our school has many sports to offer, yet only so many of them get coverage. Football and soccer tend to be the sports that get more recognition. We have so many other teams that need the same amount of support.

Two of these teams are cheer and cross country. They both work so hard and deserve equal coverage for their achievement.

All athletes have to balance school and personal life, along with training for their meets.

The cheerleaders have the same responsibilities that every other sport has, if not more. They not only perform at school events and games, but the athletes also have their own competitions to attend.

Seniors Kirsten Hatch and Yolie Bueno have many obstacles in their day to day lives.

Bueno mentions, “There will be situations where I have a Friday night game, so I don’t have time to do homework and I get home late.”

The members still have to find time and energy for this exhilarating sport, even after having to cheer and perform for multiple events a month.

Hatch and Bueno disclose that they devote more of their time to cheer, rather than spending it on personal needs.

Students in cheer go through a significant amount of stress and don’t have much time or flexibility. Some wish to continue participating in their sport, even if it means having to continue this same amount of dedication to cheer.

“I think I want to [continue cheering] because you get a lot of great scholarships for cheer and I was realizing that it gives you a lot of great opportunities,” Hatch said.

Like cheer, cross country runners face many challenges and obstacles.

They are able to overcome these obstacles by remembering what motivates them as a runner.

Junior Alyssa Laspada shares her motivations, which are, “the people there and [her] friends.”

Everyone needs encouragement, especially when the forecast isn’t always on your side.

When bad weather hits, all that the runners have is their own determination to help them get through their run.

“I try my best to run through the bad weather,” freshman Tessa Gibbons states. “The adrenaline that comes with running gets me through it.”

Unfortunately, it may take a little more than motivation to get them to practice. With early morning practice at 5:30 a.m. and the school day ending at 3:55 .m., there is not a lot of time for rest.

This is besides the fact that some students may have after-school extracurriculars. With more on their plate at school, they can struggle with balancing their time.

Junior Alyssa Laspada has been working to find the perfect schedule for three years.

“It’s difficult to manage school and running,” Laspada said. “ It can be stressful and sometimes I will go to school tired.”

Cross country runners, cheerleaders, and other sports athletes have a lot on their plate.

These athletes come home exhausted and only a handful of people will have seen their hard work in action. And then they wake up and do it all again the next day.

The life of an athlete isn’t always easy, so as fellow students and friends, we need to support our teams equally.

Helping them push through and giving them the love and motivation they need and deserve will make them feel like they are getting the recognition that they rightfully deserve.