Company Founders, HS Football Players Weigh In on Sleep's Effect on Performance

Two University of Georgia alums are making a difference in athletes’ sleep and recovery. The Inactive Company, founded by Lori Oliver and Jill MacRae, is dedicated to creating performance sleep masks for athletes, as the company believes that quality sleep is a key performance differentiator on the field.

Oliver told 13WMAZ News, "Research has proven all other things being equal, when two teams are competing on game day, the team that slept better the night before will win.”

The Inactive Company partnered with First Presbyterian Day School in Macon, Ga., to find out just how much high school student-athletes are sleeping, and the answer turned out to be: not much.

13WMAZ News shared a study by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine that found student-athletes need eight to 10 hours of sleep each night, but almost 80% of current student-athletes are falling short of that metric. 

“I'm pretty busy. I don't really get much time to sleep...sometimes less than five hours of sleep," said Junior Ellison Dantes.

“Getting that eight plus hours is crucial to be able to come back and consistently train,” said First Presbyterian Day quarterback Major Simmons. 

Even the high school’s athletic trainer said, “If players don't get enough sleep, it definitely shows in their face. I can look at them and tell when they come into the training room.” 

The innovative sleep masks, designed specifically for athletes to get darker, longer sleep, have been picked up beyond the high school level as well. Oliver and MacRae have worked with universities like UGA and NFL teams, the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs to share the power of a full night’s rest. 

“High performers know,” Oliver told the Athens Banner-Herald. “People that have to use their bodies and their brains at a high level every day know the level of performance they can achieve starts the night before.”