High school is a stage in every young adult's life where they are able to make memories they will hold on to forever. For many students, sports play a crucial part in the memories taken away from their high school years. Recently, individuals have been looking further into the relationship between student athletes and academics to see if there is a negative relationship. I argue that sports are not the reason why students are doing poorly in academics; in fact, I strongly believe sports help students stay mentally sharp in and out of the classroom. 

Sports have been an essential portion of my life for many years, specifically in high school. Soccer was the sport that I participated in throughout my life and the memories I made playing soccer are memories I will never forget. There are certain lessons one learns playing a sport that one will not be able to learn by sitting in a classroom. For instance, athletes will learn that losing is not the end of the world, because it motivates that athlete to win in future performances. Teamwork is one main concept learned through playing sports and by working as a team one will have the opportunity to make lasting friendships and bonds. I was taught to keep going when I was tired and to never give up. Most of all I was taught how to treat my opponent with respect, even if they did not earn it. The lessons I absorbed during my time playing sports will carry on with me into my college years as well as my future career in business. Academics are certainly more important, but playing sports has a lot to offer and the lessons learned go beyond the sport itself. 

Recent studies have shown that high school student athletes have a higher chance of graduating and attending college, as well as getting a better job after their education complete (KU.edu). An article published by the University of Kansas stated that, "In general, an athlete is not smarter than a non-athlete," which is true, but what a non-athlete lacks is that an athlete has more motivation to excel in their academics in order to be able to compete in their desired sport. Someone that does not play a sport naturally will not have the same drive as an athlete, which may give him or her less of a chance to graduate and become more successful in the future. Many companies are interested in workers who have played a sport throughout their life, because most likely that company's boss has played in high school or college (KU.edu). They understand that same drive a former athlete has, because they experienced it themselves and want workers that are determined. The drive an athlete had during their time playing a sport carries over into the real world and is a reason why many student athletes get better jobs in the future.

A lot of the time sports are used as a stress reliever for students who are dealing with difficulties going on in their life. High school can be very difficult at times, especially when the student is playing a sport and juggling academics at the same time. After exercising or playing a sport, athletes will feel more motivated to be productive, which would help with getting homework and projects done. This is when the body releases a chemical called endorphins and they are usually released after exercise.  The endorphins interact with the receptors in one's brain that reduce perception of pain. The endorphins also produce a positive feeling in the body, which can be related to morphine (WebMD). This positive feeling is what makes athletes more productive off the field, not only in academics, but also in community service and other extra-curricular activities. 

However there are people that think sports are not beneficial for students and believe that they are affecting the way students perform in the classroom. In an article written by The Atlantic, "The Case Against High School Sports", the author Amanda Ripley talked about how the U.S. test scores for math and reading are noticeably lower than other countries such as China, South Korea, Poland, Japan, and England. The explanation for this was that because of the competitiveness of sports, athletes are not focused enough in school and in return the U.S. test score average is suffering. It is known that in other countries they do not take high school sports as seriously as America does. In the same article an interview was featured about a student that has moved to the United States from different countries around the world quickly saw that sports were noticeably more important than academics. Sports have always been very important in the United States and people consider them comparable to a religion, because it is something they are annually a part of. People can very easily fault sports for America's poor test scores; however there is a chance that the people blaming sports for poor academics are people that haven not participated in athletics growing up. If this were the case, these people have not tried to see for themselves that sports are a motivator to do well in academics. 

It has been a recurring theme throughout the years that star athletes are secretly given an "easy ride" through education in order to focus on their sport. Many coaches find a way to make this happen so they do not have to worry about the athlete doing poorly in school and so the athlete can focus on his/her sport over academics. This usually takes place in lower income neighborhoods where crime and poverty is high and where there are a lot of exceptional athletes that may not be so academically gifted (ESPN). This is a big issue and something that has decreased in recent years, but is still happening frequently in high schools in America. Not only is this unfair to students that have to manage both sports and academics at once, but it is unfair to the athlete that is missing out on a good education. Not getting the proper education can seriously hurt a student after his athletic career is over. If the athlete did not retain sufficient knowledge throughout their high school and college career, once sports are set and done with, this athlete will not know how to proceed in the real world. It is special for an athlete to understand that academics come before athletics, but when this transpires the student will be a better person and a better athlete. As much as this may be a problem in the United States, there is only a small percentage of this going on; therefore it is impossible that this alone would dramatically affect our test scores. 

The article "Have Sports Teams Brought Down American Schools?" discusses problems associated with high school student parents. A problem that is seen often is that various parents take their child's sport more seriously than their academics. The author Elizabeth Kolbert gave an example stating that if students were to have two math sessions a day, two weeks before school started like they do for sports, parents would feel it was unnecessary and ask questions to about why this is happening (The New Yorker). Interestingly enough, if a student plays a sport in high school they will have practices throughout the summer and eventually have two practices a day to prepare for the season. The argument the author is trying to make is that parents accommodate more for their child's athletic career than they do for their education. This is clearly a problem and a step to fix this would be to educate the parents on how necessary and important education is. Our parents and the generation before us should be the ones that understand how important education is; because our parents did not have the opportunities our generation has now.

To most people sports are more than just sports; it is a life style, an everyday commitment, and to some individuals even a religion. It's important to stay active and playing a sport is the best way to do that. Most people that have not played a sport do not understand that the lessons learned from participating in athletics are more beneficial than one would think. Sports help students in high school achieve greatness and excel in academics. In any high school, coaches are obligated to bench their players if they fail a test or if a teacher complained about an athlete not doing well in their class. This teaches students not to do poorly in school again, because by doing so an athlete is letting the team down as well as themselves. As much as athletes may not look at playing a sport as motivation to do well in school, it absolutely is.

The film The Blind Side is an excellent example that a student athlete must do well academically, before playing and moving onto the next level. The film is a true story about the life of an NFL offensive lineman named Michael Oher. Michael grew up in a bad neighborhood and was heading in the wrong direction in his teenage years. He was living in the streets and not attending high school, until the Tuohy family decided to adopt him. The Tuohy family gave Michael hope as they enrolled him in the same high school their children were attending. He began to play football, but in order to maintain playing and have any chance at moving to the next level; Michael needed to get a passing score on his SATs. Michael continued to study hard and maintain good grades while he excelled on the football field. His new family pushed him in the classroom and on the field. With Michael's hard work in the classroom he was able to keep living his dream of playing football in college. The Tuohy family was able to give Michael a new life and because of that, he is now a star in the NFL and a Super Bowl champion. This is a great example that sports are a incentive to do well in academics and to secure a stable future in one's life. 

Marilyn Price, the author of "The Psychology of Youth Sports" talks about intensity and the greater time commitment an athlete has to a sport, the more strategic thinking of tactics and strategy they gain. Marilyn connects this concept to how this can affect athletes not just in their sport, but also away from it as well saying, "This can lead to the development of strategic thinking which is helpful in all aspects of life, including the ability to find and excel in the job market." She goes on to say that playing a sport throughout one's childhood is important, and that studies show that just playing occasional middle and high school sports is not enough to develop initiative and internal strength (Psychology Today). From this students will be able to overcome challenges and obstacles during their sport by working with a team. They will also learn to cope with challenges off the field by working with others, which is why continuity is important.  Balance may be the most important aspect of the three, which ties into academics and being able to juggle both at a high level. School is not the only thing that balance pertains to, but also in after school clubs and volunteering around the community. Being able to balance all of these together will not just make one a better athlete, but also a better person and understanding that there is more to the world than just winning and losing. 

In a YouTube podcast video "Why Playing Sport Gets You Better Grades", the narrator talked about an experiment he did to see what would happen if an athlete stopped playing his/her sport. The student that he used was a high level athlete and an above average student in academics. This student stopped playing sports for 6 months to see if his scores would increase, but instead his grades dropped, and he started to get very stressed and depressed. This caused him to see a psychiatrist who conveyed him to go back to playing sports, which would help with the stress. When the student went back to his sport, his grades slowly improved and the student started to feel less stressed and more confident. The narrator uses the term balance in his podcast and expressed that people who have balance in their life typically do better in academics. High school athletes tend to have balance because they have multiple tasks they have to balance at the same time. If a student does not do well in the classroom, typically they will not be playing their sport until their grades have improved. This influence's athletes to try harder in school in order to always be ready to play when it comes game time. This experiment is concrete evidence that sports play a positive role in students succeeding academically (Rowan Kunz). 

Sports have always been an essential part of high school and will always be important for years to come. As I researched more about sports and the affects they have on academics, the more I was able to decide that sports have a positive affect on students and their grades. Before researching for this project, I had a lot of knowledge on high school sports and how it affected me with my academics. It was clear when I started researching that for majority of the articles, sports had a positive affect on students academically. Playing a sport has taught millions of people around the world critical lessons that are not provided in the classroom. These are lessons that student athletes will be able to carry with them their entire life. I strongly stand by sports and the education that it provides for athletes, and believe it keeps students mentally sharp for a brighter future. 

