When I made the suggestion about no gym for varsity sports participants (“Athletes Don’t Need Gym,” Nov. 2-8), it wasn’t because of declining grades. The reason why I believe it would be better to let a student have the option to take gym or not is to lessen the chances of injury. When I was in high school, I remember tripping over a classmate’s foot while playing basketball in gym class and fell on my tail bone. I was unable to lift my arms for 2 weeks, missing several games and practices on the varsity basketball team. In the state if Illinois, they want their students to perform to the best of their ability on their sports teams, not requiring them to take gym during that time. When there is a student who swims 4-5,000 yards each day, and is expected to do 20 push ups in gym or they will fail–any gym teacher should know how taxing push ups are on your shoulders, yet still make them do them. That’s where unnecessary injuries occur.