Student Athletes Argumentative Essay

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Many student athletes enjoy the thrill of winning a soccer game against a long-time rival, or the strong friendships they develop with their team through months of basketball. But imagine a young child coming home after a football game. Time and time again, he is told that he’s “destined” for the NFL. With encouragement from teammates, coaches, friends, and family, he feels unstoppable. While confidence is important to excel in athletics, it can do more harm than good for children to place their sights too far in the future. Every year, numerous professional athletes endure tragic accidents and lose the ability to play. Colin Kaepernick, a football player who “took a knee” during the National Anthem in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, …show more content…

On top of that, only a minute number of those players ever move on to professional athletics. NCAA basketball players, for example, have fewer than a 1% chance of making it into a professional league. What this means is that a tremendous number of high school athletes will never have a chance to play professionally. Based on these statistics, it is very likely that at some point, the aforementioned child won’t make the team, whether it’s in elementary school or college. This could possibly result in feelings of anger, resentment, and self-deprecation, especially if the child’s ego is built up to think he should have gotten in. Of course, it’s rational for parents to argue that they want to support their child, and by no means should they strip him of his self-confidence. But seemingly harmless statements such as “you’re destined for the NFL!” will pile up over time. Pre-adolescence is a period when the brain is still very malleable. Even small comments can implant a very large, but figurative, idea into the child’s head--an idea which he clings onto for years past elementary

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