Collegiate Athletes Competitiveness

Academic success is important for both high school and college athletes. To be eligible to participate, athletes must maintain a certain GPA. Student athletes that don’t make school a priority, not only miss out on playing time, but also fail to prepare themselves for the next step in their life. For high school athletes, that means prepare for college while for college athlete, it means preparing to enter the workforce. Although, both high school and

When looking at the topic of academic success of African American student athletes you need to look at all the factors involved. The problems that African American student athletes face are much the same that all African American students at higher education institutions face but the student athletes have other stressors that the normal students do not have. Such as In addition to the daily student routine (attending classes, going to the cafeteria, and participating in social events), student athletes also have their sport-related activities (practicing every day, visiting the athletic trainer for injury treatment, traveling for away games, studying team plays) (Watt, Moore 2001).

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.”

Moreover, college athletes have shown a poor academic success rate in past few years, in brief. Their academic performances were significantly low due to the distraction caused by athletic programs. Athletics are not only a distraction for athletes, but also for institutions which are holding these athletic programs. “The low graduation rates among athletics, particularly in sports like football and basketball, are alarming, although there is strong evidence that this problem is endemic to the entire academic enterprise” (“College”). Average outcome GPA of an athlete is way lower than that of a normal student in general. Missing classes regularly, missing assignments, and missing exams have been the reasons for these poor academic performance rates. Daily practices and tournaments are the reason for them to miss their academics. Another side of this argument is that athletes are given unfair advantages in academics unlike other students. They were given excessive grade changes and extra points to maintain their athletic eligibility. This situation degrades the quality of academic programs and it debases

Do student athletes make the most of their opportunity to obtain a post-secondary education? Do they have the same academic success as those students that are not athletes? Are student athletes just “dumb jocks?” The answers to these questions might surprise you. Much research has been done to dispel the myth that athletes going to college are only there to play sports with little regard to their education. Programs have been created to assure that colleges and universities hold athletes to the same standards as the everyday student. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has decided that the “magic number” to put the “student” back into “student-athlete” is 925 (Hamilton).

Jolley, D. (2009). Academic Achievement Is Improving for College Athletes. In C. Watkins, Sports and Athletes (pp. 71-78). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

In the article, Class and Cleats: Community College Student Athletes and Academic Success, Horton first examines the statistics of evidence showing college athletes and their underachievement. There are many instances of concern about college athletes and their poor grades having an affect of their athletic responsibilities, though this belief is usually denied due to a student always being a student before anything else. This study researches the idea of the way that college students and college athletes view success. Many college athletes tend to state that success is passing all courses and being more successful in their sport, rather than academics coming first (Horton, 2009).

Over the years, we have seen colleges and universities benefit extremely from their sports programs. Every year a great team brings tremendous amounts of revenue for their university. However, as these universities increase their finances, their athletes are falling behind financially, academically, socially and personally creating a huge burden upon them. College/university athletes practically work overtime for their academic institutions. While many perceive student athletes as living ‘the life’ because of sports, the reality remains that they suffer from social, personal, academic and psychological stress. They constantly live their lives by strict schedules to avoid falling behind in their multiple responsibilities .Student athletes face various pressures, yet they are not frequently rewarded; therefore their academic institutions should reward them financially, beyond scholarships for their participation in collegiate sports.

Literature surrounding athletic participation and its impact on the college experience is well documented (LaForge & Hodge, 2011). Many scholars purport that athletic participation enhances the academic experience, while others argue that it creates a divide between colleges’ missions and student-athletes lived campus experiences. To support this claim, Lawrence, Henedricks & Ott (2007) found in their study that nearly one-third of faculty who responded to their survey indicated that they believed that academic standards are lowered to achieve success in the sports of football and basketball. One question that is often posed by

The “NCAA is a voluntary, unincorporated association of colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning.” Roughly half of the member institutions of the NCAA are either state or federally supported. NCAA members are divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II, and Division III. All three divisions of the NCAA maintain separate rules and regulations governing the recruitment of student athletes. The goal of the NCAA is to “govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education.” To effect these goals, the NCAA provides a number of services to its member institutions, among the most important of which is regulating the recruitment of student athletes.

We as “normal people” put athletes on a pedestal. We forget the bad things that they have done when they score our team’s championship winning touchdown or the winning basket or goal. We forget that it is also important for athletes to be successful students because they are the role models for the future generations. We forget that to get into these top colleges most students must have high ACT scores and have an outstanding GPA with multiple college courses or AP courses, while for athletes it takes a coach wanting them to get them in. With all of this in mind, Scott A. Broadhead, argues that:

Many people feel that American society is too competitive. Americans tend to enjoy sports and the concept of rivalries. Sometimes even a “family game night” can turn fiercely competitive. However, not all Americans are focused solely on winning. Competitions lead to a good outcomes because they push people to do their best, teach the reasons behind hard work, and form better athletes.

The NCAA was founded in 1906 to protect young people from the dangerous and exploitive athletic practices of the time," (Treadway). At the time the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, initiated in 1906, no one ever considered that collegiate sports would develop into the billion dollar program that it is currently. Collegiate sports in America are on pace to surpass the popularity of American professional sports. The growth of the NCAA has led to numerous complications.

Despite the many stereotypes that are connected with being a student athlete, student athletes in general are held to much higher standards by their institutions. Before a prospective student athlete even enters college, they are made fully aware of the academic standings and requirements of the college they choose. Although the academic requirements vary from college to college, the standards are still held high for all student athletes. The transition into college can be exceptionally difficult especially for the

Also, it was found in this study that the type of sport the student-athletes participated in had a significant impact on the difference in GPA scores. In fact, depending on the type of sport the individual participated in there would be a significant change in GPAs. In addition, the findings for this research question were positive. Specifically, there were 11 significant differences found between academic performances of athletes in some sports when compared with others. Student athletes participating in boys’ basketball had lower improvements in GPA than did student athletes participating in boy’s outdoor track and football. Finally, the comparisons only represented comparisons between boys. According to the findings of question four, the boys that participated basketball, football, and outdoor track experienced significant academic differences while girls did not, when individual male sports were compared with individual female sports and there was significant difference, the academic gains of male student-athletes were greater than that of the female