If one were to associate any sound with the word “sports,” one would probably conjure up the screeching blast of a whistle or the distinct scream of a timer on a game clock.
Either way, both are indicative of time limits that many sports have. Many athletics are made competitive by the simple, age old struggle—the race against time. In basketball, soccer, and riflery, players have only a short amount of time to win their game. In cross country, swimming, and paddling, teams and individuals alike are constantly pushing and striving to achieve a better time. In addition to athletics, competitive leagues and clubs such as Math League and Mock Trial are also subject to strict time constraints. All of these athletes and competitors are constantly and desperately pushing their limits in order to improve their timing, but does a certain period feel the same from one sport to another? In long distance paddling, a minute is a fleeting moment in a seven hour race. However, in air riflery, a minute is ample time for an experienced shooter to get off around two perfectly executed shots. Time is subjective.
What does a minute mean to you?
“A minute is huge…at States, there were 20 to 30 people within a one minute time difference. So if you’re a minute up, that’s a big deal.”
Junior Sarah Uehara (Cross Country)
“I think a minute is significant especially in basketball because in a minute you can have a lot of transition points. If you’re really down, you could really make that minute turn into five minutes by trying to stop the clock and trying to catch up mentally.”
Junior Kiara Chun (Basketball)
“In a minute in paddling, usually you hit about 66 strokes at a good pace or more at a faster pace. Every stroke can either hold your boat back or catapult you forward, and every stroke, from every person on the boat, is important to winning. When you look at the bigger picture, it may not be as important as a minute in other sports because…it’s one minute out of 45 minutes, or in long distance one minute out of seven hours…”
Junior Makenzie Cammack
“A minute means that I have a limited amount of time to check my balance, check my natural point of aim, check my breathing, and check my sight picture before I slowly pull the trigger to what I hope will be a centered shot.”
Senior Michelle Chan (Air Riflery)
“A minute is a long time in cross country and there’s a lot that can happen. You can beat 20 people or be beaten by 20 people. You can also cover a lot of ground within the minute.”
Senior Joshua Laxamana (Cross Country)
“Basically anything can happen in one minute. You could win the game in a minute. It’s a long period of time in soccer.”
Junior Shaye Suzuki (Soccer)
“A bunch of positions could happen in a minute, but if you make a mistake, it doesn’t really mean that much in the whole scheme of the game, because you could just turn it around in a second.”
Senior Stephanie Dang (Basketball)
“A lot can happen in a minute, especially when you do something wrong in an equation. Then you mess up everything and lose one third of your time, which is already 30 percent of your grade.”
Sophomore Jessie Lin (Math League)
“In terms of the score, if it’s really close.. a lot can happen in the game in a minute. It’s really stressful. It’s when everybody starts to panic. But if you just stay calm, then you can definitely win a game in a minute, even though you’re down by a lot.”
Senior Karli Uwaine (Volleyball)
