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The Effects of Participation in Athletics on Academic Performance
Impact of sports in school
The Effects of Participation in Athletics on Academic Performance
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While opinions vary as to the importance of organized school athletics and whether students should be required to participate in them, I personally believe that the benefits of such athletic endeavors are many and that they should indeed be required. Such programs help cultivate the many positive qualities that can result from these activities. Specifically, school athletics help to build character, teach perseverance while also developing a higher level self-discipline.
The number one attribute to be gained is arguably the building of a stronger character for oneself. The competitiveness of organized sports historically puts an individual through a rigorous process that results in self-discovery. The necessary effort that must be exerted
Sports are a crucial part of an individual 's character. Counter arguments made against having sports at schools are getting more and more public. The arguments make people, think again about having students play sports. Sports are useful because they give players skills they can use on and off the field: strength, leadership, and confidence.
While this is not completely true, sports develop people in many ways still, some people say that “sports make me what I am today.” While it is impossible to prove exactly the way each individual takes in sports, it is seen that overall it has some positive effect. Sports are a tool of development and instead of it being a choice between sports and academics, the real answer is both and that they work together to constantly develop quality generations of people. Though problems exist, the true qualities of sports maintain the role they have in developing young ones.
In his article Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities, Messner discusses how men construct “masculine identities” in which certain identities are formed by such factors as the race and socioeconomic status of individuals. Messner in his work mentions and summarizes his interviews with 30 former athletes, all of whom are male. In his analyzation of these interviews, Messner tries to unravel the concept of sports being a gendering institution, something put in place for a mere purpose of making men more masculine. He mentions that sports are in place to “masculinize” the mind and the body of males.
In the book entitled A Sociological Perspective of Sports, Wilbert Marcellus Leonard II says, “Many of us have strong opinions as to the value of competitive sports. Some of our beliefs are based on personal experiences, others are not” (219). I have my own strong opinions about the value of sports, most of which are based on personal experiences. I have been surrounded by, and involved in, competitive level sports my entire life.
American’s love their sports and they get pretty offensive when it comes to their sports. On one hand you have a group of people that love sports and believe that they are fundamental especially in schools. On the other hand there is a group of people that don’t feel the same way as those other people do. Some people believe that there shouldn’t be sports in schools. Now these people have great facts about what is happening and why there shouldn’t be sports in school. There reasons being education is being put to the side, too much money is spent on sports, and finally that there could be lifelong problems from sport injuries in school.
In the article “Organized sports do not benefit children” John Gerdy writes about youth sports programs no longer being about meeting the educational, developmental, and recreational needs of children but rather to satisfying the ego needs of adults. This topic has been widely argued over. Questions have been ask of parent who choose to have their kids win than to have fun. Gerdy in his writing will talk about De-organizing children’s sports and the adult domination of children sports as well as his opinion on the whole argument.
Some schools force students to participate in organized school sports. However, I believe that schools should not make this a requirement. Some students may have medical conditions, family situations that don't allow them to participate in organized school sports, or they simply may not have the time.
Organized youth sports are synonymous with Capri-Suns, muddy sports uniforms, and long hot Saturdays spent at the field, ballpark, or another venue. It’s commonly held ideology that competitive youth sports were created to foster teamwork, discipline, and fun. Thousands of leagues and independent sports clubs across the nation, are dedicated to fostering these values, as well as pursuing an extreme level of expertise in a particular sport. For young children, one would inherently think that sports leagues should be mainly focused on the aforementioned values. In today’s increasingly competitive society, the average Elementary aged child seems to have an athletic calendar that is downright rigorous.
Athletic competition has been around for a long time and is growing in popularity. America’s passion for sports continues to grow as demonstrated by the amount of college and professional sports channels and magazines (Cotton, 2009). In high school, athletics can be seen as a positive motivation for student success, but can also deter pupils from academic excellence. Research on the relationship between academics and athletics is often contradicting. There are several studies, books and articles which disagree on the impact athletics have on academic achievement. Both positives and negatives are highlighted, but limited on the area of border town statistics.
Sports are an important aspect of society. They help people to strive to reach certain goals and join people together, but they also can divide people and turn a fun game into the main purpose of someone’s life. Taking sports games too seriously can be harmful to both the athlete and the spectator. The attitude of always winning at any cost in sports has managed to distract us from other important parts of our lives, such as health and education. This importance of the value of sports can heavily influence the way that we see ourselves as both the spectator and the athlete by creating a positive self image and distilling confidence and discipline within the player, or by embedding self doubt and inversion.
Students should be able to play sports even if the sports are at the school. I personally think that sports are great to have at school because one, you have to work together. Two, you have to keep up your grades, and three, sports can get you scholarships and lead you into have a higher salary.
Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).
Jeff Kemp, a retired professional NFL quarterback, once stated, “Sports teach positive lessons that enrich America even while revealing its flaws” (Kemp). Athletics offer so much more than the joy of game day and the thrill of a win. Being involved in sports holds the key to a world filled with passion, excitement, and once in a lifetime opportunities. There is nothing better than seeing the student section arrive in full force or hearing the school fight song chanted before kickoff. However, when life moves on and leaves sports behind, the lessons it has instilled in athletes never disappears. The play calls may be foggy and the jersey will be too tight, but what was innocently learned in the jersey shines out at an older age. Although life lessons can be learned through everyday activities, lessons such as teamwork, self-confidence, and dealing with failure are only truly learned through sports by young athletes.
Organized sports help keep teens out of trouble, give them an opportunity to meet positive influences, provide an opportunity to develop a higher self-esteem, and enables students to set goals. Staying with sports through school helps teens stay on the right track. Students should be interested in their sport and enjoy participating and always should try to have fun!
Intramural sports have been around for ages and may not be as well-known as varsity sports. However, the benefits that come along with them are very significant. In the article “The Social Benefits of Intramural Sports”, Wilson says, “Student participation in intramural sports programs serves to enhance the social element of development whether the participation is individual or in groups” (Wilson 72). This phrase is very relevant to my topic, but it only displays some the good that comes from the participation of intramural sports. There is more than just developing a better and bigger social crowd. The attributes of becoming a better person, gaining many life skills, and living a better life are available everywhere in these extracurricular