Do you think multi-sport athletes have an edge over the single sport athletes? If so, why do you think that? Fifty-five percent of all high school students play a sport. High school athletic programs encourage young students to participate in various extracurricular activities. Benefits for playing in sports at this level will not only give a young adult a chance to play at the college level, but they give kids more self-confidence, develop focus, and how to respond positively to setbacks and failures. However, an opportunity for an athletic scholarship is one of the main reasons why parents persuade their child to play in more than one sport, driven by it’s financially advantageous and pushes their child to work harder towards a successful future. So should a student athlete participate in multi-sport athletics? While there are advantages to playing only a single sport, multi-sport participation is more beneficial to a growing athlete. Playing sports can be fun, competitive, and exciting. People play sports for many reasons; exercise, entertainment, interaction with others, and finding a hidden talent. It all starts at a young age; you are given various opportunities to play in a variety of sports. Many of the sports you participated in as a kid were either recreational or club teams. Partaking on these teams, you are setting yourself up for middle school athletics. In middle school the competiveness increases and you really get the jest to what the sport entails. You start picking out what sports you like playing best. When high school rolls around you usually find the sports you would like to excel in. Some high school kids pick a few, but many choose one. Being a single sport athlete in high school can have its benefits a... ... middle of paper ... ...rvey by American Medical Society for Sports Medicine found that 88% of college athletes surveyed participated in more than one sport as a child. The combination of skills learned from other sports can be applied to the sport you’re participating in at college. When it becomes that time when you are faced with the decision to continue playing multiple sports or concentrating on being a single sport athlete. Just remember the benefits and cons of each decision. While it can be easy to ask your family and friends for advice, you are ultimately the one pushing your body to its capabilities. Just remember that the main reason athletes play sports is to have fun. It doesn’t mater if your playing one sport your whole high school career or more just has fun. When deciding what is preeminent for you this should be the main component in your decision making development.
A hard-working individual could play sports and still maintain a good GPA. They may want to go to college for more of a sport-focus, but being well driven in your academics will help for your whole future.
... and school. Ultimately, the question many face is do the pressures of competitive sports ruin all the positive effects they could have?
“Sports specialization refers to the exclusive participation in a single sport, most commonly on a year-round basis” (Kauffman). For many athletes, this means that training schedules no longer have an off-season (Kauffman). Early sport specialization is characterized by participation in a specific, intense training program for a single sport at an early age at a competitive level (“Journal of Physical Education,” n.d.). Ages that are considered for early sport specialization include 3-12 years old. “Approximately 45 million children participate in organized sports, and many participate at earlier ages with sport specialization” (Callender, n.d.). With this participation gradually increasing in the U.S. adolescents, sport specialization including
Sports specialization is an intense training in a single sport while excluding others (Jayanthi et al., 2013). In my opinion, athletes should not begin to specialize in one sport before adolescence. Rates of sports specialization appear to increase with age. Although numerous people would agree that the number of hours spent in practice and training generally positively correlates with the level of achievement in sports, specializing in sports at an early age can cause burnout which would ultimately be more detrimental than beneficial. Swimmers who specialized early spent less time on the national team and retired earlier than athletes who specialized later. They reported that the foremost reasons for leaving the sport were psychological fatigue, general health, and difficult loads (Barynina & Vaitsekhovskii, 1992). Rhythmic gymnasts, those who specialized earlier and spent more hours training from age 4 to 16 years, rated their health lower and experienced less fun (Law et al., 2007). Despite early specialization being beneficial to attain elite-level skill in a sport, intense training in a single sport and the exclusion of others should be delayed until adolescence to optimize success, while minimizing the potential for
There is never enough of anything in the life of a college student. there is never enough time to study, or enough food, or enough money, or enough time to sleep. But, if that student becomes a college athlete then all of the “or’s” change to “and’s”. Even though there are many struggles of a college athlete they are not going away. As the youth of America watches their older counterparts excel in many college sports, a dream to become an athlete at the collegiate level is sparked. This dream is fueled through high school sports and then disseminated by high school counselors. Counselors who are quick to remind that sports do not bring home a paycheck. Neverless, this dream of college sports thrives and is present in the mind of every high
There are positive effects for playing multiple sports. Some people feel that being a single sport athlete is better, but they both have pros and cons. Coaches like it when kids are playing multiple sports, “... college coaches want to know how an athlete move, how an athlete thinks, how good of a teammate the athlete is, how the athlete competes. All of these can be easier to witness when an athlete is playing a sport that comes less naturally to them.” (Rerick 2).
College athletes are not forced into playing the sport that they have devoted their time to during their years in secondary education. They continue to play into the college level for their love of the game. And for this, many college athletes are offered full scholarships. Today’s tuition for many schools are so expensive that without the scholarships that some of the students receive, they would not be able to attend college at all. For these students, college sports offer a great avenue to obtain an education that otherwise would not have been available for them. This allows them opportunity to study something that they can use to build a better life for themselves and their families.
Growing up in America sport is a vital part of everyday life. From childhood to adulthood some aspect of sport pertains to virtually everyone. As a child one is looking to find a hobby so they play sports. As a parent fathers look forward to coaching their child’s little league team. And as tens and young adults sports are an opportunity to become a “somebody” and do something amazing. The general perception in high school and college is that athletes have it all. If you’re good at sports then you don’t have to worry about schoolwork or popularity and essentially you have but not a care in the world; you are invincible. Although it is great to see some succeed and become professional athletes many others do not have the same fate. The fate of these athletes, which happens to be the majority, is what drives my opinion on college sport.
Going to college is such a stressful time in a person’s life. You have to go through the process of finding what school you want to go to and what you are going to study. Figuring that out has to be difficult because they may be unsure if they are going to make the right decision or not. Now imagine going through the process of picking the best school for yourself and what you are going to study, and add playing a sport on top of that stress as well. You play a sport all throughout your childhood and high school, you do not want to give that up as you go away to college. You decide you are going to go to college to play that sport, not only do you want to play that sport, you also want to go to a Division Ι school and compete at the highest
I don't agree that playing more than one sport is better than focusing on just one. At a competitive high school it is very difficult to play multiple sports at a proficient level, in fact most coaches are against it. On page 15 the info graphic reads, "Nearly 603,000 girls compete in track-and-field in high school. There only about 4,500 college scholarships." Though, playing more than one
I’ve always been the type of person that truly enjoys athletics and have participated in nearly all sports offered to me. I started playing sports in elementary with club softball and basketball. As I entered my middle and high school years I was able to add the school sanctioned sports to my list of activities. This afforded me the opportunity of competing in volleyball, basketball, golf, track and softball. The camaraderie and life lessons of sports seemed invaluable to me.
Many people think that sports can negatively affect how a student performs academically. In fact, in 2009, the University of California at Berkeley voted to ask the chancellor to stop funding the cost of intercollegiate sports, and use the money for other things around the campus that focus more on the “Academics First” resolution. “We look to the Academic Senate to represent faculty interests in maintaining the integrity of UC Berkeley as first and foremost a site of research and learning. At a campus ranked best public university in the world for its academic quality, academics must come first”. But there are also so many reasons why students should participate in physical activity and why athletics need to stay a very important part of any school’s focus, elementary through college level. Playing a sport helps you learn better time management, improve social and emotional skills, and your brain becomes more active.
How many sports do people play in high school? Throughout my high school career, I have played three sports, (basketball, baseball, and track) for my first three years and four sports, (Basketball, Baseball, Track, and football) for my last year. Playing multiple sports throughout my career has kept me in shape. I have also made many good memories playing sports during this time. The only thing that I wish I could change is playing four sports all four years of high school so I could make many more memories with my friends. Playing sports is such a great thing to do through high school, they get to stay in shape while playing a sport they love. Although people will argue that it is hard, sports should be something everyone participates in.
Sports programs have been an integral part of all schools. They support the academics of the school and therefore foster success in life. These programs are educational and help produce productive citizenship. They help students experience and build skills that may help them in their future, like interpersonal and time management skills. Education may kindle the light of knowledge, but sports help to maintain the proper physique. Sports are also an important means of entertainment and a use for energy after long hours of study. Sports increase a student’s performance not only in the classroom but also in their life.
Research shows; “hard work can lead to excellence, and that young athletes learn success that can lead them through life.”(Watkins 27) There are many ways to get involved with athletics in high school. One great way is team sports. There are many team sports to choose from, such as baseball, football, hockey and soccer just to name a few. These team sports can be a fun and enjoyable way to stay active through high school.