King Sports

Over the past several years there have been many debates among parents over the issue of whether or not sports are good for their children. Some parents have considered the word “sports” as being negative because of how they impact their children. They have searched all the negative aspects of sports in order to convince their children that sports are bad. Furthermore, they have provided their kids with graphic images and videos of athletes getting injured in order to create a fear in their kids’ conscience. While some parents are pessimistic towards sports, many parents have encouraged their kids to participate in sports because they have done the proper research and seen that the benefits of sports far outweigh the negatives. For example, sports provide numerous benefits for kids such as: scholarships, higher grade point averages, better disciplinary skills, and more efficient time management.

 

Due to their financial status, many kids may never have dreamt or even considered the possibility of attending college and pursuing their career path through further education if it was not for the scholarships that sports offer them. According to Scholarship Stats, approximately 180,000 scholarships are given out each year through athletic programs. Participating in sports opens up the opportunity for more students to enroll in college. Depending on the scholarship, some students don’t even need to spend a penny out of their pocket to attend college. Scholarships are just one of the benefits of sports. Without sports scholarships, there would be over 180,000 students not getting to experience education past high school which would severely weaken our society and community. Nowadays, a post secondary degree is no longer an option but rather a necessity. The need for higher education in a community is very necessary and important because having people well educated with a proper knowledge is the key to a successful community and the well being of society.

 

Another advantage of sports is that they motivate kids to have a higher grade point average. When students are members of school athletic programs they are required to maintain a passing grade in order to be eligible for competition. Others might argue that students in a team may have a lower GPA than non-athletes because they have more stuff on their plate. Athletes are required to attend a certain number of practices to be able to participate in games and those practices and games consume their time. However, this argument has been proven wrong in a study by Northwest Missouri State University, which concluded the following: “The average grade point average of student athletes was 3.25 which was significantly greater than the student-non athletes GPA at 3.01. Also the ratio of the students who had 4.0’s from athletes to non-athletes was 4:1.” Sports teach athletes that school is the most important thing because it requires them to attend school and pass their classes so that they can play in games. Sports don’t only motivate athletes to perform well in their school work; in deed, sports also provide school assistance for the athletes. Athletes who are struggling academically can turn their teammates and coaches for assistance. The coach will always want his/her team to be at full strength, meaning everyone being eligible to participate. Therefore, the coaches will be watching out for their athletes’ grades and will be constantly reminding them of what needs to be done or improved upon. Also, students in a team can use their teammates as a source of help for their school work.        

 

Generally speaking, students that participate in a sport have less disciplinary problems than those that do not. This was proven through a two-year study by Walden University in a suburban public school. This experiment showed that “the average disciplinary referrals per non-athlete was 2.74 and .31 for athletes in 2010.  Also in 2009, 2.86 referrals per non athlete to .33 referrals per athlete.” Overall, the athletes have less disciplinary referrals because they are taught to be disciplined through sports. Sports teach students to have great sportsmanship and to be respectful towards others. When athletes don’t meet these standards, they are punished by their coaches. The consequences that they face depends on their coach's opinion on the extremity of their action. Coaches can discipline athletes by making them run suicides, limiting their playing time, or benching them for entire games. By punishing them, athletes will think twice before conducting bad behavior again. Also, athletes are taught many essential life skills through sports such as being coachable, learning to work with others and being respectful toward others.  

Being able to manage time is an essential life skill and sports teach students how important that skill is and how to master it. Since sports take up so much time out of a student athlete’s life, the student is forced to not procrastinate and actually use all of their time wisely in order to meet deadlines and get the most out of their days. Where compared to non-athletes who have endless time, so they don’t feel the need to get their priorities done and end up procrastinating until the last second. A survey by Trinity College found out that student-athletes are more efficient with their time in season than out of season and they are also better at budgeting their time. This proves that students who participate in sports have a head start when they first attend college because they have learned how to manage their time and use their time wisely.

 

Injuries are the only adverse part about sports. Athletes can get injuries during sports and in some circumstances, those injuries might become major ones such as severe concussions, broken bones and unconsciousness, but this is rare. For the most part, minor injuries such as twisted ankles, swollen knees and pulled muscles are the most common injuries that athletes face. However, sports programs have been hiring more trainers and medical staff to prevent those injuries from occurring. For example, sports programs have required athletic trainers to be at a sporting event so that they will be available in a case of an emergency.  Ambulances are also always on scene at football games as a backup. With the new advanced technology, better equipment is being made to reduce the possibility of an athlete getting wounded. In the unlikely instance that an athlete does suffer a major injury, physical therapy is facilely available to help them get healthy again.