College Athletes

Sport’s are an aspect of life that affect societies across the globe. Athletics affect everyone's life, whether that be playing the sport, watching games, or hearing about a sporting event. There is a big difference between playing an individual sport and players relying on their own athletic abilities versus a team sport when members of the team rely on their teammates to complete each individual's specific responsibility to reach the team's goal. Team sports bring people together in countless ways, and they teach many life skills for the athletes that participate in them. Some of these skills include communication, teamwork, discipline, work ethic, dedication, leadership, and numerous more that will help them in their personal and work

The impact of preserving sports in high schools has been surrounded by much controversy as people suspect that it is the reason behind the poor academic achievement of students. Opponents to high school sports feel that allowing athletics to be a part of schools sidetracks the focus of the student body, which goes completely against the main purpose of schools. Indeed, this assertion is completely true and based upon plentiful evidence. High school sports undoubtedly come at the expense of student academic achievement since they divert the attention of students away from academics and they come with far too many financial costs, both of which incur negative impacts on the academics within a school. The bottomline is that sports are harming the education of students, so a school must make the decision between composing quality sports teams or providing high level academics; both of these choices simply cannot occur simultaneously.

Also sports help kids with their grades.” According to a 2013 evaluation conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, Becoming a Man--Sports Edition creates lasting improvements in the boys’ study habits and grade point averages. “ (“ Bowen & Hitt”). Sports are the number one reason for a kid who is thinking about dropping out to stay in school. Think about it if you need a 2.0 to stay in sports and you struggle in school but, you love sports and want to do it in college you will stay in school to achieve your dream. Also with sports that helps me is you don’t get time to procrastinate because if I know I have a game tomorrow and I have a big essay do the day after that I will do it tonight because I know I can’t do it after the game. Which is why most people who aren’t in sports struggle with procrastine. “Neish (1993) that found positive correlations between high, medium, or low levels of involvement in extracurricular activities and students’ GPAs and involved students attained higher GPAs than did students who were not involved.”(“ Lumpkin & Favor”). This proves again that sports truly do help are kids in school.

Physical activity has not only physical benefits. It also has a very big impact on social-emotional and cognitive aspects of child’s live. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “The development of a physically active lifestyle is a goal for all children. Traditional team and competitive sports may promote healthy activity for selected youth. Individual sports, noncompetitive sports, lifetime sports, and recreational activities expand the opportunity for activity to everyone. The opportunity to be active on a regular basis, as well as the enjoyment and competence gained from activity, may increase the chances that a physically active lifestyle will be adopted.”

Some schools with strong sporting traditions reinforce participation in sport. The sports that students are encouraged to participate in can depend on the school’s history and traditions, the facilities and equipment available, and the expertise of the teachers.

Rodeo is a very thrilling, exciting, and dangerous sport. During rodeos, one meets many new people, travels across the United States of America, and has the glorious Friday night lights shining down on them. During high school rodeo and college rodeo athletes must meet different levels of expectations; their performance because of scholarships or money, their coaches or parent’s expectations, and academic success. Expectations for college rodeo athletes are higher than the expectations for high school rodeo athletes. First off, high school contestants do not have to perform great to keep scholarships given to them. High school rodeo athletes are not on scholarship to rodeo. The money they use to rodeo comes from the contestant and his parents. Therefore, the contestant only

SMU became the University of the death penalty because they were cheating and using money to get top high school football athletes. That is against the rules of the NCAA for a short period of time they have gotten away with it but finally got caught when former football players came out and speak on the matter to the media. Which they made it public and the NCAA had to take charge and punish SMU for their actions. Which lead to the death penalty and for future football athletes they had to suffer from the death penalty. Overall, the players did not have to take the money but most did and it cost scholarships, being ban from bowl games, and no home games in 1987.

College athletes are finally getting attention on the fact that they are not paid. I believe that whether or not it is college or pro sports they deserve a salary. These players put their heart and soul on the field and get nothing in return. In the articles “Athletes New Day” by Paul Marx and “College Athletes Should Not Be Paid” by Warren Hartenstine, the reasons for college athletes to be paid are very evident. No matter the case, if the students move on to pro sports or not after college, they should be entitled to some pay for their contributions. College athletes deserve to be compensated for their playtime in these sports, sales of products with their name on it, and even compensation for their injuries.

“After committing to the University of Oklahoma as a ninth-grader, Kyle Hardrick took the court in 2009. It was a dream come true for Hardrick. An injury to his knee put his future and his scholarship on hold. When Hardrick tried to resume his career, he was unable to obtain a medical hardship waiver, something he needed to regain a year of college eligibility. His family was stuck with tuition bills since his scholarship was not renewed. With those bills unpaid, he was unable to get his academic transcripts from Oklahoma to transfer to another school” (For College Scholarship Athletes, Injury Can Spell Financial Disaster). As scholarships are renewed every year, stories like Hardrick’s emerge across the country but can be avoided if the student-athlete had compensation to fall back on.

Inferring that in order to maintain a healthy mind, one needs physical activity to maintain a healthy body. Also, when giving an interview with Dr. Esser, an athlete herself and mother of an athlete, I was told, “The physical aspects of a high school sport: is it helps their metabolic rate, thus keeping them thinner. It teaches them that the food they eat can help or hinder their athletic ability which then affects their energy, mood, and ability to perform.” The studies and stats show that sports (physical activity) will help boost your overall health and cognitive abilities. Therefore, showing high school sports can help your academics. If sports are taken away, it will lead to worse health conditions in the U.S. and it will take away from the student’s mental status, performance, and well-being.

Physical activity is essential for children; therefore sport participation has many physical benefits for youths (Willox, 1994). In the United States there is a very unhealthy trend of physically unfit children going on. According to a recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health seven out of ten kids in our nation are out of shape and the incidence of obesity has increased by more than 50 percent among America's children and teen since 1976 and continues to grow at a staggering rate (Metzel & Shookhoff, 2006). When children participate in sports activities they get some of the exercise they need to improve their quality of life and can help prevent children from becoming obese. Physical activity regulates obesity because it increases energy expenditure, suppresses appetite, increases metabolic rate, and increases lean body mass (Willox, 1994). Even though regular physical sport activity has been shown to improve physical fitness, it can also help in preventing many different health problems down the line that youths who participate in sports are more likely not to develop than youths who do not participate in sports. Women who participated in organized sport and fitness programs as

High school sports also has a benefit to an athlete's physical health. Today’s teens are exposed to a great amount of entertainment avenues such as television, video games, and other media devices. These things allow teens to be lazy. Young people generally get less physical activity as they get older. By being physically active it can help prevent obesity. The experience of sports, exercise, and kinesthetic activities helps boost teens’ bodies. Involvement in sporting activities keeps teens moving and and keeps them engaged physically which is vital for their overall health and

With the lack of physical fitness that should be mandatory at a high school level, health problems arouse in many young adults. “World Health Organization numbers suggest that 80 percent of young adults globally may not be getting enough exercise.” (America 20). Health complications such as obesity should trigger young adults to want to exercise. “Obesity is the second leading preventable leading cause of death, but young adults still have problems with exercise, excessive weight gain, and cause of variety of health problems.” (America 1). Since obesity can be prevented, physical fitness will help decrease the chance of young adults becoming obese. Obesity is not the only preventable complication that comes into play when young adults do not exercise. With the lack of exercise, health problems such as diseases, cancers, and other health complications, create many health issues in young adults. Without fitness, "It raises the implications for chronic disease, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, and predisposition to cancer," said Dr. William Dietz (Rosen 37) .While young adults are sitting in their classes, the 15-60 minutes per day demand is limited.

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.

“Physical education hopes to accomplish, to engage all students, not just the athlete elite, in fun activities that will instill a lifelong commitment to fitness.” (Johnson, 264). Physical education in the classroom can be a vital steeping stone to the way that teenagers think about fitness. Lifelong fitness is something that everyone should be guaranteed, it mainly depends on the experience that a teenager has. Like many other subjects in school, the