High School Sports Research Paper

A basketball team in Texas was down by two points with seconds left. After two steals and a half-court buzzer beater, they win the game. However there is more to high school sports than the intense playoff games. High school sports do more for students’ than give them a varsity letter. High school sports are beneficial to a students’ education in that they teach time management, develop social skills, and improve a students’ grades. High school sports teach time management in many ways. For example, “If you know you’ll miss class/test or assignment because of sports, talk with your teacher earlier rather than later to ensure you cover all of your academic bases,” (Keeping). Sometimes students must leave early for a sport and may miss a class. Teachers will not chase those students around trying to figure out what work they have missed, it is up to the student to make up the work. Also, “If your teacher gives you advanced notice on tests, projects or book assignments…do a little each day rather than cramming everything the night before it is due,” (Keeping). Students who may have several practices or games in one week must be able to stay on top of their school work. Those practices and games force student-athletes to start their school work before practice rather than after. Finally, “Set up a daily list and arrange your priorities according to the order of importance to your mission,” (Ngari). It is necessary for students to know how to prioritize their work. They should know the importance of their assignments and what should be completed first. All extracurricular activities are very time consuming, but that ability to manage time will be important for students as they grow up. There are many different aspects to how sports affect students’ social skills. The first example deals with how sports can benefit students’ abilities to get a job when they are older, “A survey of individuals at the level of executive vice president of 75 Fortune 500 companies showed that 95% of them played sports in high school,” (Geier). Sports teach working with others, and being a leader; those skills are very important while having a job. If someone is able to lead a group of people then they might get a job over someone who cannot lead. Playing sports gives people better opportunities coming out of college. Another example is extracurricular activities keep students’ from doing bad things, “In a study of over 14,000 high school athletes published in the journal Pediatric and Medicine, the ones who played sports were less likely to use drugs,” (Geier). Playing sports helps kids meet the right people and have coaches who care about them. If athletes get into the right crowd they are less likely to be doing drugs or drinking. Similarly, “…the Women’s Sports Foundation has stated that female high school athletes are 80% less likely to become pregnant than non-athletes,” (Geier). Sports and other extracurricular activities added to all of the school work students’ get leaves little time for anything else. The activities keep students’ from making the wrong decisions. Social skills are an important lesson that will be helpful past high school. Finally, playing sports or participating in extracurricular activities improves students’ grades. According to a Penn State student: A study done by our very own, Penn State University, and the University of South Carolina studied data and tested 9,700 high school students whether or not they played a sport. While studying kids ages 14 to 18, they found that the students who played a sport …had better grades and test scores. (Playing). Additionally, the Los Angeles Unified School District did a study using 35,000 student athletes. They found that student athletes on average attended 21 more days of school, and some GPAs were .55 to .74 points higher, (Playing). These two …show more content…
The evidence throughout this paper explains how high school sports and activities teach valuable lessons dealing with prioritizing, communicating, and learning. Playing a high school sport is not meant to be just about winning a title or two in a high school career. They teach skills beyond a field, they give students’ many opportunities in life. Student-athletes shouldto recognize the deeper aspects of what they do on a daily