Sports Science (Good Work, A++, NO plagarism)

Repsond to classmate, no less than 150 words

 

***Karen Ame

I firmly believe that competitive sports contribute to education from my various personal encounters with collegiate athletes. I am a first-generation student and one of the main driving forces in me becoming a first gen student was that I needed good grades to continue my basketball career. My parents always told me that in order to play college basketball I would have to do good in school. As a primarily division three basketball recruit my junior year of high school, my grades were the means in which I would save thousands of dollars to continue playing. Once in college my coaches held us to a high standard as we would have mandatory study halls with no cell phone usage. These disciplines made me focus on my school work more than other college freshmen. The obligation to the sport means that you have an obligation to your school work whether you want to do it or not. From my personal experience I believe I was a better student from my competitive sporting event because I managed time more efficiently and took my work ethic that I took into work outs into my school work. A study that I found online notes that there scientifically is   “ But in current study, sports participation is showing no direct relationship with academic achievement. There may be some reasons due to which sports participation seems to be having no direct connection with academic achievement such as lack of proper guidance about time management for academics and sports”. The study found the opposite of my beliefs in regards to time management. This was an interesting research article found in the journal of human psychology. In conclusion from my personal experience and what I found in the article, I believe competitive sports contribute to education in some athletes and distract others. The topic is subjective and changes for each individual.

**Hobbs

When I hear this question asked, I laugh out loud usually, because I still try and figure out who in their right mind does not believe this is true.  There is no doubt that competitive sports and physical education contribute to education.  First, I'll back up my opinion with facts, then I will share my opinion.

First, there is a significant amount of research that has been released that links athletic participation to improvements in achievement and boosting of performance in areas of study such as English, Math and Science (Jenkin, 2015).  These studies show that there is a definite correlation between physical activity and increased brain activity.

Secondly, in terms of the educational experience, physical activity and competitive sports have shown to create a stronger sense of connection between the student and their school (Jenkin, 2015).  This increases the motivation of students to do well in school and work to create a great environment for learning for themselves and others.  Also, a study done in 2009 shows that behavior in students improves as the amount of time spent participating in physical activity increases (Jenkin, 2015).  As students have an outlet to release energy and work out their anxiety, they are able to focus more in class and be better students both academically and behaviorally.

My opinion on this matter is that the value of competitive sports may never be able to be measured in a study or in research.  While the research shows that physical activity alone improves the academic experience, competitive sports goes to a higher level in all of these areas mentioned.  The lessons that an athlete learns in competition include teamwork and determination.  Those two skills are necessary for a student-athlete to be successful both on the field and in the classroom.  Students learn the value of taking ownership in their performance in athletics, which instills in them the value of taking ownership in their performance in the classroom.  Student-athletes who are self driven and focused in athletic competition create a world where everything they do is competitive and a factor of their hard work and determination.  It is my opinion that an educational experience without physical activity and competitive sports is an incomplete education and is cheating kids out of the complete education they each need.

Reference

Jenkin, M. (2015, September 3).  Fit for learning: what research says about the benefits of sport.  Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/sep/03/fit-for-learning-what-research-says-about-the-benefits-of-sport.  Last accessed on December 10, 2019.