Instead of walking through the mall on a Saturday afternoon, you are getting in the car looking up directions to Eureka. Or instead of being a regular person in the stands and enjoying the view of the game you are screaming and yelling at the players and your nerves are uncontrollable hoping you boyfriend does not get hurt in this game by spraining his leg—or getting a concussion.

“You’re always at work or you’re always at practice,” said senior Sean Riley about the things he hears about dating an athlete.

When it comes to thinking about having a relationship with athletes people tend to get discouraged and have second guesses towards it, partly because people’s minds always think straight to the negative aspects about anything.

Sophomore Kelsie Williams prefers not to date during her season because she is not good at her time management and due to a past relationship where her boyfriend wanted more time than she could give.

“’You’re in the gym to much’ or ‘you don’t have enough time for me is all he would ever say to me,’” said Williams.

Not only is it hard when your partner makes you feel bad about your relationship and not having enough time for them, but your friends and peers add stress to the relationship. Friends always try to have fun and go places like the mall, the movies, or just chill together and those are things you can’t do every weekend when you date an athlete because some Saturday nights you might be at a seven o’clock football game in Eureka.

“Sometimes my friends want me to be with them, but I want to be with my boyfriend because our time is limited due to practices,” said Nia Young-El, a junior dating a varsity football athlete.

“One weekend my friends wanted me to spend a weekend with them, but instead I chose my boyfriend, and they got upset thinking I was picking him over them but in reality I was just trying to balance my relationship and friendship,” said Young.

Peers and friends also always have an opinion to say about business that is not theirs—whether it is negative or positive.

“All the time I hear about how my boyfriend is no good because he is a basketball player or he is still messing with his ex-girlfriend since he attends another school,” said senior Devyn Torbert.

“I do not let that affect my feelings toward him though,” said Torbert.

Many of these issues happen while dating an athlete, but people fail to think about the positives that come with dating one as well. The positives of dating an athlete positive outcomes are just like dating any other person. Dating in general comes with motivation, a feeling that you are able to rely on someone and open up to that is not only family, and much more.

“It feels good to have a number one fan and to know that someone in the stands is there supporting you not just your parents,” said senior Mason McNutt, a varsity athlete.

“Also, having a girlfriend, she is going to help me and keep me focused, just like I would for her,” said McNutt.

“I support my boyfriend by going to all of his games, getting t-shirts and hoodies for him, and giving him a good pep talk before his games,” said Young, who sits wearing a black hoodie with gold lettering displaying her boyfriend’s jersey number on the back.

No matter what the circumstances are, whether one waits hours for their partner to get out of practice or only getting to see their partner on Saturday nights, people who date athletes believe they need to find a way to make things work out with someone they plan to build a future with.

“Even though it’s a lot of attention and hard work to be in a relationship with a D1 [recruit] it feels good to be able to have someone there to support you that understands and connects with you,” said Young.