By Becca Royer, Staff Writer

Have you ever had one of those days where you just don’t feel like looking decent for school? A day where you would rather wear sweats and a hoodie or a T-shirt with gym shorts?

For me, this is just about every day of my life.

As an athlete, I have sufficient amounts of Nike running shorts to wear to school anytime I feel like it, but a damper is put on this lazy lifestyle on game days. “Dressing out” for school on big game days has become a tradition for nearly every sport at Reynolds High School, including cross country (whose meets are on Saturday, might I add).

There are many reasons why athletes should not have to dress up on game days. First and foremost, an athlete has to be comfortable all day in order to perform well in a game. Personally, I am not comfortable while walking around all day worrying if I’m flashing people in my skirt or dress. I feel much more rested and ready to play when I wear comfortable clothes on game days.

Second, dressing up is pointless! Honestly, what does dressing out show people? That you have a game that day? OK, so what – someone can check the schedule and see that you have a game. To show school spirit? How does a bow tie with a bunch of tiny whales on it or five-inch heels show school spirit?

Here’s a hint: It doesn’t.

There’s also the excruciating process of going through your closet trying to decide which outfit to wear – which can literally take hours as you pick out a dress or skirt and blouse. Then you have to decide what shoes and accessories to wear. This routine is very stressful, not to mention the amount of work it takes to re-hang the reject outfits.

A lot of times, athletes will “forget” to dress up (if you’re me) or actually forget to wear some snazzy duds. When that happens and the athletes don’t match the rest of their teammates, it makes for another point against implementing the dress-up rule in the first place.

Admittedly, I can understand why some would enjoy dressing up on game days. Lots of people don’t take advantage of the T-shirt lifestyle like I do. Some people actually tolerate and even take pleasure in looking professional on game days. By looking nice, athletes could feel confident and therefore have a positive mindset going into their game.

While it’s fun to dress spiffy on special occasions, such as weddings, I just don’t see school as a runway for fancy attire – whether or not you have a game this afternoon.