High School Athletics Essays

Almost all student athletes get butterflies before that Friday night football game, before the fans get to watch them compete, or even the to get the ability to practice. Many argue that high school sports are a distraction in the classroom or even cause career ending injuries. There are many different scenarios that prove that high school sports do the exact opposite of those. When it comes to high school sports, it keeps students fit, boosts a student’s academic performance, and enhances a student’s self-esteem. High school sports are very beneficial and for anyone who is looking to take on a new challenge to take on.

The Atlantic article, “High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics,” by Daniel H. Bowen and Colin Hitt make a statement on the sports programs in schools. They oppose the thought that participating in sports programs results in a student’s academics suffering, but instead believe sports programs provide academic benefits. Their article targets the article, “The Case Against High-School Sports”, by Amanda Ripley who argues that participation in sports at school cost students’ academic success. The duo constructs their argument around Ripley’s claims and counter her points to strengthen their own. Their argument has a mix of supporting information and points that weakened Bowen and Hitt’s claim. This is due to the methods and evidence they provided which didn’t appear as convincing when trying to persuade readers.

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.

Daniel Gould’s non-fiction essay, “Are High School Sports Good For Kids,” explains the benefits of doing sports in high school. He uses examples from research, showing the true benefits of being involved. Than, Gould uses transitions to show both sides of high school sports. Than, he uses other sources to back his argument up. Gould uses his persuasive ways to pull in teens and adults. His purposeful tone explains all the beneficial aspects of sports in high school and how teens can gain educational and personal benefits.

The second source states that students who participate in sport programs are more than likely to gain a good amount of "Sportsmanship" because most High School sports are recognized for their "Potentional Educational Benefits. The National Federation of State Highschool Activity Association promotes this to gain better chances of the youth having a more positive outcome as well as expanding their horizons of educational oppurtunities.bBut there are more things to depend on for education just than sports like "Have Sports Teams Brought Down Americas Schools?" by Elizabeth Kolbert stated, American high schools spend more time wasting money on sports than on more significant subjects such as Math or Language

Children are often exposed to sports at an early age. As they get older and start school they often participate in sports as a way to both make now friends and be active. As the children grow older, progressing into their teenage years, they become more specialized in their sports. The sports that the young people continue with grow in their favor. When the child reaches the high school level, sports take center stage. The pressure for them to perform in sports and perform well is immense. There is the pressure from coaches, teammates, and others to succeed. The futures of the athletes are at stake. They play for the chance of scholarships and to continue their childhood dreams. This immense pressure is very draining on the teenagers. The

In 2007, Minnesota State High School conducted a survey and found that the average grade point average (GPA) of a high school student who was involved in sports activities was 2.84, but that of a student who was not involved in athletics, had a GPA of 2.68. All over the United States (U.S.) schools are either voluntarily or being forced to shut down their athletics department; saying that there are no real benefits to having sports programs offered in school. However, many other Americans believe that there are multiple reasons for sports to be offered. Even though there are people who believe sports are not beneficial, I believe they are for two solid reason, sports programs offer valuable life lessons and they also help to improve grades while the student is in school

High school sports have many benefits. Life skills and important character traits can be learned through sports. Leadership, teamwork, participation, and sportsmanship are all outcomes of sports and teamwork. All of these life skills will be needed as the student-athletes grow into adulthood and begin living on their own.

Sports are embedded in many American schools in a way they are not anywhere else. One element of our educational system consistently surprises them, “Sports are a huge deal in American schools,” says Earl Smith of the New York Times. The positives have always outweighed the negatives in the case against high school sports. As Sato Kai state, “The benefits of sports as part of the education process are abundant and sometimes beyond quantifications,” According to many academic specialists, sports offer formative and life long lessons such as: discipline, responsibility, self confidence, and accountability. These skills can furthermore excel your later life and give you a greater chance of being employed in a high level job. Participation in high school sports helps your later development as an adult and teaches you life long skills that can't be taught elsewhere.

Students who do sports and extracurricular activities budget their time more wisely than students who don’t and overall tend to do better than kids who don’t. I believe that students who do activities outside of school tend to do better in school than students who don’t. Those students also learn valuable skills like working in groups. Doing activities outside of school makes the students want to work hard to get good grades in school because if you don't have good grades you cant do sports. According to, the US Dept. of Education in 2005, high school athletes are more likely than non-athletes to attend college and get degrees. EY Women Athletes Business Network in 2014 did a survey of 400 female corporate executives and found that 94% of them played a sport and that 61% of those women say that sports have contributed to their career success.

Do you think High schools pay too much attention to sports? Many will argue and jump from one side to the other, all around the U.S.. This is an argument which has been debated for a very long time. I'm a former player and back to school player as well, throughout my experience I've had the best lessons taught to me and how to eat well too. With that being said, I'll have to take the "Mandatory high school sports" into consideration. My first reason is because high school coaches make sure students are well in school.

According to the National Federation of State High School Association 7.8 million students participated in high school sports throughout the 2013-2014 school year, making it the twenty-fifth year in a row that the total amount of student athletes has escalated. It has been proven through many studies that teens participation in sports has a positive impact on them in various aspects of their lives. One positive effect in teens involvement in sports is that in the future, it will open up a window of opportunity for teens to use the fact that they were a member of a sport as an advantage over other non-athletes when applying for college. Some teen’s discover that they are actually gifted at a certain sport or sports which results in their

Athletics can have a very major impact on a child’s life. Students who participate in youth athletics learn many life skills that can positively affect their lives. Athletics benefit children in physical, psychological, and social development. Studies show that youth who participate in organized sports during middle and high school do better academically and are offered greater job prospects than children who do not partake in sports activities (Marilyn Price-Mitchell, Ph. D 2). Organized sports also benefit children by getting them active, decreasing health risks for them in their future. Students involved in athletics can develop positive friendships that

Many people say your high school or college years are the best years of your life. You can just go to class during the week and have fun with your friends on the weekends without having to worry about all the “real world” responsibilities. Many people also say that getting involved in school activities and participating in sports is what makes your high school journey worthwhile. Now, it’s expected that you’re going to forget how to graph a trigonometric function or what the foundations of American Literature were, but the valuable lessons you learn from high school sports are ones that will stick with you for the rest of your life. This is one of the many reasons why every student should participate in a sport or some school sponsored

Sports and the general physical activities have been associated with a plethora of benefits. Not so much in correlation with education though. The debate on sports and academic performance relates as to whether sports affect academic performance positively or negatively. Mostly, academics, especially in high school and colleges, require an enormous time commitment. In the same way, sports demand time commitment. Apparently, academics and sports run linearly and either would consume the time of the other. Such would be the argument put forth by the claimants of the negative effects of sports on academic performance. The opponents to the positive correlation of sports and academic performance ground their arguments largely on the time commitment that the two require claiming that sports would consume a student’s time for study hence affecting their academic performance. Proponents of a positive correlation between sports and academic performance summon an extensive range of evidence showing that students who participate in sports perform well in academics. The proponents’ arguments are fetched from the proven benefits of exercise which improve a student’s overall well-being and motivate their academic performance. Opponents would, however, argue that the studies that find athletes and sports persons good at academics do not show how such correlations occur in that other factors could be the actual causes of the correlation and not sports in themselves. Regardless, opponents to the claim that sports affect academic performance positively cannot deny that sports affect the overall well being of any human being. As such, there is no denying that sports affect academic performance positively where a balance among the two is maintained.