Student Athletes

Being a student athlete is not an easy thing to do. 7 hours of school, 3 hour practice, get home around 5:30 and then multiple hours of homework. Despite all of this, according to a study done by Ryan Stegall claims that the student athletes in his study had an average GPA of 3.25  while nonstudent athletes had an average GPA of 3.01. Pretty much all teams have a rule that says you must maintain certain grades to be allowed to play on the team. Which maybe one of the reasons for this difference.

Playing sports also gives many other benefits to the athlete. Such as lower number of absences, lower substance abuse rates and especially for female athletes, playing a sport leads to increased confidence. There are also less dropouts in high school athletes.

Playing sports in high school also provides students with many life skills as well, such as organization, time management, motivation and preforming under pressure. Angela Lumpkin, professor of health, sport and exercise sciences, and Rebecca Achen, doctoral candidate and graduate teaching assistant at KU have said, "What we are saying is participation is important...athletes are learning discipline."

Being a student athlete are tough, there are lots of sacrifices that have to be made but the outcome is well worth it.

                                                                                                                ~Ally



Websites used:
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/ResearchPapers/2012/Stegall,%20Ryan.pdf http://www.childtrends.org/indicators/participation-in-school-athletics/
https://news.ku.edu/2014/01/15/study-shows-high-school-athletes-performed-better-school-persisted-graduation-more-non