High School Athlete

How Can Being a High School Athlete Affect You after High School?

In 2014, 7.8 million people played high school sports.The number of participants in high school sports increased for the 25th consecutive year according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (nfhs news). There are an estimated 41 million American kids playing competitive youth sports. The number of children involved in youth sports has risen significantly over the last 10 to 20 years, according to Dr. Steve Carney, a professor of sport management at Drexel University in Philadelphia (CNN). Many students get involved in athletics for the love of the game. Some do it to pass time during their

Playing sports can become psychologically and physically damaging when they are taken way too seriously and people start to ignore their limits. Some athletes feel so much pressure, sometimes from their parents or from their coaches or even from themselves, that they appeal to highly questionable methods to improve themselves. Examples of this include having excessive protein and even doing steroids that can cause hormonal and sexual disorders, temporary infertility, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and several other physical changes. It is estimated that about 3.5 million Americans do steroids and about 3% of American teenagers have tried it at some point in their lives (Winkel). While playing high school sports, an athlete is vulnerable to a variety of physical injuries that range from minor fractures or pulled muscles, to major fractures and breaks. It could even lead to career ending injuries. Not only are there physical dangers, but there are also psychological dangers such as anxiety, the weight of peer pressure, and the depression of losing and letting your team down. Studies have shown that athletes with high anxiety usually suffer the most after a game. Whether the team wins by 20 or loses by 10, they will never be 100% fulfilled with the way they played. They will constantly run things through their head of what they could've done better, or what they should’ve done different. As much as athletes would rather think about the pros of their career, a huge con they need to consider is the injuries. Whether it's being hit with a “helmet to helmet” tackle in football and getting a concussion or injuring your neck, or being hit by a fastball in the back or ribcage and having a broken or fractured rib, or even rolling your ankle coming down from jumping up for a rebound in basketball. Between 2005 and 2014, 92 high school football players died making football the most dangerous