Student athletes have a heavy burden to bear much of the time. They carry full academic loads, many of them have after-school jobs and then there are hours and hours of workouts, practices and games.

This weekend, some area teams will participate in regional or area basketball tournaments. Some of our local schools will emerge winners and go onto

other venues. Some of our local schools will come home after having tried their best and losing.

These are young men and women putting their all out there on the court for our entertainment and for the glory of their schools. And those who are exceptional might gain a nod from a scout from some college or university, but that&8217;s not as prevalent as it would seem.

We congratulate the teams in the area that have advanced. But most of all we salute the althletes on the court for sacrificing to bring honor to their schools.