Student Athletes’ Academics and Sports Balance

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Project overview

There has been a heated debate about whether student-athletes need to be in school. They have shown a very general poor performance problem and therefore it is a discussion which cannot be avoided. Therefore in line with this, I will focus on the reasons why the student-athletes perform so poorly, what makes them perform in this way and how the situation might be helped to improve. I will also get into what benefit they bring to the schools, to themselves as well as to their peers.

Background research

According to the national collegiate athletic association (NCAA), almost everyone needs a good education, which is why this association sets an academic bar for one to achieve so that they might be allowed to participate in their sports (NCAA, 2020). The bar set is a clear indication that most of the time student-athletes have a poor performance.

According to (Oppenheimer,2015), student-athletes have a similar mind of poor performance. This peer pressure is brought in by the fact that other members of the athletes’ teams do not care much about academics. Therefore even if a person tries to get a lot of interest in academics at the end of the day they are unable to succeed due to the mind-set of their fellow athletes and thus the athlete finds himself into the mind-set that academics is not so important as sports are. Even though it is true that the athletes help the school to some extent to excel when it comes to issues to do with sports, it does not take away the fact that most of them perform very poorly. One of the major strategies put into place is setting a bar for any athlete to be allowed to get involved in any athletic activity once they reach that bar (Curtis, 2006). However, this does not always prove to work in some cases, while it works in other instances.

Therefore, studies to students are generally just as critical as sports and focus on athletics to the students. These two are very related and very close, and thus, separating them is a challenge. This is because any school always wishes to produce an all-rounded person. This means that they have to encourage their students to exercise just as much as they should join in academics. This makes the students physically fit and at the same time cognitively fit and active.

According to research conducted by sports in June 2019, Miami’s dolphins are renowned for their excellent performance when it comes to sports. There have been many questions about how they can do that, but this specific report brings out a clear picture of possibility. The Miami Dolphins have their management and planning team of very well-educated professionals. This means that their mental capacity is fully used to make decisions for the team and strategize different things and win.

The same is applied to high school students who can be of great work. When a person is mentally active, they generally become bright. Therefore this brightness can be used in the field during athletics to make sure they can win. In most times in as much as physical ability is essential, it needs to be used together with the mental capacity to realize success. Therefore the role of studies in athletics is to help the athletics make the best decisions in the field and thus constitute their success.

Methodology

The main purpose of this paper is to identify the reasons why student-athletes perform so poorly. Due to this student athletics were asked oral questions as well as library research concerning the student-athletes.

Sample description

A total of 20 respondents were involved in the research. This included 3 teachers, 5 athlete students, 5 teachers, 5 parents, and 2 coaches. Out of the twenty 13 were male while 7 were female. Their ages ranged between 16 to 40 years of age.

Sample technique and procedure

For the research about this paper convenient, voluntary, and non-random methods were used in the finding of participants of the survey. The respondents were contacted through phone calls, text messages, and also through WhatSapp.

Ethical consideration

Consent was always sought from the person being interviewed and there was a presence of a consent form which was provided to prove that the information was collected willingly by the respondent from him or her.

Data analysis method

For this, the frequency distribution method was used.

Findings

The research came up with many findings among athletes especially the ones involved in active athletic activities. Even though it was not everyone who was an athlete they had strong opinions concerning the athletes and what they can do instead of just focusing on one area which is sports. When asked to describe why athletes fail their examinations 70% of the respondents stated that the athletes were never concerned about education therefore they could not avoid failing. 30% of the respondent’s associated failure with the lack of proper attention and care both from home as well as at home.

The next question was what could one balance between academics and athletes and it was not an easy one as almost every person gave a problem and how they could serve them. However, 40% of the respondents stated that they could make a timetable of what they are supposed to do them they do it according to their timetable.

The response to the question on gender in athletes and how lack of emotional support makes them vulnerable to negative suggestions also had a variety of answers. In the first part of the gender question, 50% of the respondents stated that girls need to be much more involved in this kind of sports but also watch their performance very well for a balance. In the second part, 80% of the respondents stated that at home the athletes should be given the emotional support they deserve.

Project goal

The goal of this research is to identify the issues which make athletes perform poorly and try to get solutions to these or rather a balance between academics and athletics. You will be able to identify the issues which make the athletes perform poorly as well as what other contributing factors there are and how they can be solved.

Research objectives

The research will show that I will interview 20 respondents. These respondents include; 3 teachers, 5 athlete students, 5 teachers, 5 parents, and 2 coaches. The student-athletes will bring to the attention of the audience what they can do or not do. They will also be able to discuss how difficult it is for them to balance studies and athletics.

References

Covassin, T., Elbin, R. J. & Sarmiento, K. (2012). Educating coaches about concussion in sports: evaluating the CDC’s “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports” initiative. Journal of school health, 82(5), 233-238

Huml, M. R., Hancock, M. G., & Hums, M. A.(2019). Athletics and Academics: The Relationship Between Athletic Identity Sub-Constructs and Educational Outcomes. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

McCormick, R. E., & Tinsley, M. (1987).Athletics versus academics? Evidence from SAT scores. Journal of Political Economy, 95(5), 1103-1116

Yeung, R. (2015).Athletics, athletic leadership, and academic achievement. Education and Urban Society, 47(3), 361-387