Being A Student Athlete Is Even Harder

An anonymous individual once said, “People don’t play sports because it’s fun. Ask any athlete, most of them hate it, but they couldn’t imagine their life without it. It’s part of them, the love/hate relationship. It’s what they live for.” The quote continues saying, “It’s who they are. It’s who we are. We are athletes.” An athlete is an individual who trains to compete in a sporting event. However, there is a fine line distinguishing an athlete and a student athlete, or at least there should be. A student athlete, where student comes first and shows the balance of a full time student and a full time athlete, is an

There are these ongoing stereotypes that student athletes are “dumb,” “lazy,” and “privileged.” It’s understandable that people believe these stereotypes, news magazines and reports are always talking about how athletes are “coddled” and “cheat” their way to success. Though it is nowhere near true for the majority of student athletes, a select few situations encourage this negative categorization of us, thus putting student athletes under even more pressure to perform. Student athletes are constantly misjudged and the assumptions are affecting us.

that student athletes are students who gain access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and board and other allowable

Many people believe that the college athletes are just like the professionals because they train and work just as hard as hard as the pros. First of all college students are working and training so hard because they want to make it to the major-leagues some day. “Students are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports. They are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and

For the purposes of this study, I would consider someone a student-athlete if they participate in academic related activity at least fifteen (15) hours per week, along with participating in an organized sport at least five (5) hours per week. For example, a student who attends a full school day (i.e. from 8:30am to 3pm) and then participate in soccer practice for two and a half hours twice time a week would be considered a student athlete. I would consider a participant a high-performance athlete if they participated in at least fifteen (15) hours of sport-related activity per week and performed said sport in a competitive setting. For example, a hockey player who has 18 hours of practice per week, plus competes in hockey tournaments twice a month would be considered a high-performance athlete in this study.

A college athlete is also known as a student athlete. As a student athlete, the student

Many athletes spend lots of hours dedicated to their sport of choice. They do this by practicing in their free time, team practice, team meetings, and traveling. Then, they have to study for their classes. This to me is like working a full time job with a heavy load ofn classes you have to attend to and do well. Dave Anderson stated, “College athletes spend an average of 43.3 hours per week dedicated to their sport” (Anderson 1). Also, Anderson stated, “This means that college athletes have to work 90 hours per week just to remain in school on their scholarship. This is the equivalent to working two full time jobs with a side job on the weekends just to pay their bills” (Anderson 2). Sports can put a lot of stress on a student’s school work achievement goals. People should know that college for student athletes demands a lot out of them and basically drains them physically as well as mentally. This is based on all the time they spend on sports and

The NCAA believes “that a student-athlete is a student first and athlete second.” Student-athletes benefit more than from playing a sport that they love. The graduation rate is higher among the student athletes than the general student body. “NCAA studies show that student-athletes enjoy high levels of engagement in academics, athletics and community: have positive feeling about their overall athletics and academic experiences: attribute invaluable life skills to being a student-athlete: and are more likely to earn similar or higher wages after college than non-student athletes.”

A prominent reason why high school sports is detrimental to academic accomplishments of students is because of how sports act as a powerful distractor to education. When a student starts to play sports in school, their mindset shifts from being focused on learning to now focusing on improving at their sport of choice. Sports are just another thing that consumes the time and attention of people. This simple fact clearly presents a problem because it means less effort can be dedicated towards academics. A perfect example of how sports teams magnify this effect of reducing academic effort is presented in the article “Why Student Athletes Continue to Fail” when it explains “Tight-knit student athletes will seek ways of fitting into a culture that they perceive as neglecting academics (by defaulting into majors of dubious merit and spending less time doing homework), knowing that their habits are observed by teammates” (Oppenheimer). Clearly, this statement demonstrates that school sports create an environment where students feel pressured to adopt a callous attitude towards academics. Since sports teams form a strong bond between the members of the team, the impact of peer pressure is emphasized because each student wants to behave like the others simply to feel connected to the group.

Now who exactly is considered a student athlete. Well a student athlete is someone who is competing in a sport that is being sponsored by the education system (Wikipedia). We all very well know all the big games that go on here i the united states that bring in fans from all over the world. Like Bowl Games for football, march madness for basketball. But those are not the only sports that colleges have their are also several other events and sports that are organized through the NCAA for every season of the year. Here are most that happen in the fall Men's and women's cross-country, Field hockey, Football, Men’s and women's soccer teams, Women’s volleyball, and Men's water polo. The sports played in the winter are Men's and women's basketball teams, Bowling, Fencing, Men’s and women's gymnastics, Men’s and women's ice hockey, Men’s, women's and mixed rifle, Men’s,

The way that all this is available is because of the term coined by the NCAA for the players to be called Student-Athlete. A Student Athlete is a participant in an organized competitive sport sponsored by the educational institution in which he or she is enrolled. Student athletes must typically balance the roles of being a full-time student and a full-time athlete. To be a Student athlete a

Student-athletes are putting themselves at the same physical risk as the professionals when they engage in a sport. Just like the professionals, the college athletes are also at risk of injuring themselves, so just because they aren’t professionals doesn’t mean they aren’t at risk and don’t need medical attention. They also deal with stress on the muscles and bones when they workout and actually perform their sport. If you look at normal college student, they just go to class and have time to themselves afterwards. College student-athletes have a larger a workload than the average college student with hours of training, games and classes, all at the same time. If one puts all of these responsibilities together, being a student-athlete is truly

Do you ever feel yourself walking around school trying to keep your eyes open because you had to stay up studying for that big exam and also had a big game the night before? (Rhetorical question) Student athletes have a very busy schedule. They start their day out with the sweet agony (extra credit-oxymoron) of going to school for eight hours, practice for one to two hours, do homework for two hours, and maybe get a little time for themselves at the end of the night.(extra credit- amplification) The word “student athlete” does not hold within it the struggle it many feel when trying to balance academics and sports. It’s hard to catching a break when you’re on the run.(extra credit-pun) Schools need to

Athletics and academics go hand in hand, in college. There is a direct connection between the two. Although numerous of people could say that this association is viewed as a con, it frequently depends on the level of competition or determination made by the athlete. The truth behind this association is that athletics are a good thing for academics. The stereotype “dumb jock” has an extensive history in the American culture. But only in the 1970 's did the media begin seriously examining whether student-athletes were indeed students. In the past 20 years, the NCAA has established new rules that attempt to mandate that athletes must get a decent education (Funk). There are many reasons why this may be true. One of the biggest reasons is because of the discipline athletes have toward their sports which carries over to their school work and personal life.

As I am a student athlete, I decided to make my protest against the bias that jocks are not as smart. Just as with sexism, I think this stereotype is being challenged more and more today and has become less prevalent in recent years. However, I believe that in general, student-athletes or “jocks” are still considered to care less about school,