Effects Of Interscholastic Sports On Academic Achievement

Running head: EFFECTS OF INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS ON PARTICIPANT'S

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.

Function of Interscholastic Sports and Their Effect on

Participant's Academic Achievement.

 

Function of Interscholastic Sports and Their Effect

On Academic Achievement

While the first account of humans engaged in learning may well be the story of Adam and Eve, the origins of team sports are virtually unknown. Perhaps, team sport pre-dates the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The arguments among educators, however, concerning the relevance of team sports to academic achievement may be equally as ancient. In Plato's foundational document of western philosophy, Republic, sport serves the educational objectives of personal virtue and intellectual achievement. The philosopher posits the idea that athletics "cultivates the qualities necessary to endure the long and arduous climb toward knowledge that is philosophy."(Reid, 2007, p. 167) But still today, it is common to hear faculty discussions degrading the value of athletics from the college level down to junior high school. Many believe athletics represent the worst aspects of academia. Yet the tradition of scholastic team sports has survived. This survivorship suggests a symbiosis between athletics and academics very different from the adversarial relation common in faculty discussions. (McCormick & Tinsley, 1987, p. 1103) Indeed, it would be odd within a cultural context characterized by competitiveness, to imagine an educational system which denies the relevance of athletic competition. (Reid, 2007) In the educator's attempt to determine the appropriate relationship between athletics and academics, the key factor appears to be how the individual athlete balances the demands of participating in interscholastic sports with academic responsibilities. (Byrd & Ross, 1991) Further to be determined is the effect of team sport participation on the academic achievement of the interscholastic athlete?

Properly defined, the term 'team sport' is differentiated from other coordinated, goal oriented physical activities. Wesch, Law, & Hall (2006) refer to team sports as those in which athletes must perform their actions to coordinate with the task actions of teammates (e.g. basketball). Further included here would be the designation of scholastic sports, those which are supported, funded, or sanctioned by independent schools or schools systems ranging from elementary to high schools. That list includes, but is not limited to, basketball, football, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, track and field, swimming, golf, and wrestling. Athletic participants have been described in studies (Byrd and Ross, 1991.) as students who were listed on a team's eligible roster for a particular sport. Further, team sport participants are considered interactive athletes in that substantial physical interaction occurs with teammates and/or the opposition. (Wesch et al. p. 222)

Estimates of total participation vary. Harrison and Narayan (2003) cited some 60% of adolescents participate in team sports. Others put the number closer to two thirds of the total student population. In general, more boys than girls are involved. (Miller, Melnick, Barnes, Farrell, & Sabo, 2005) In hard numbers, researchers (Goldberg & Chandler, 1992; Marsh & Kleitman, 2003) report 1991 statistics of some 30 million U.S. high school students engaged in school athletics. Regardless of the estimator, athletic participation in team sports is still the single most popular school-sponsored extracurricular activity, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. (Miller, et al.2005) The North Carolina High School Athletic Association reports on its Web site (2007) numbers which show more than 166,000 high school students, both male and female, participating in 16 identified scholastic sports. Numbers for middle school, junior high, and elementary school teams are not available.

Numbers speak to the popularity of team sport, but measuring the impact on academic achievement raises legitimate concerns. Researchers such as Goldberg and Chandler (1992) look to determine the extent in which society's emphasis on athletics is in conflict with manifest school function of promoting academic excellence, transferring knowledge, and fostering the psychological development of the adolescent. An adolescent's identity formation is sometimes impacted by a school or support system which places more value on the star athlete rather than the academic honor student, resulting in a short term payoff for the athletic role. (Goldberg & Chandler, 1992) Maximum participation rules and age restrictions have been enacted to prevent parents from intentionally holding their children back in order to later gain a competitive edge in athletics. Athletic associations have argued in court for limits to preserve "the philosophy that students attend school primarily for the classroom education and only secondarily to participate in interscholastic athletic." (Sullivan, Lantz, & Zirkel, 2000, p. 262)

Inclusiveness, the opportunity for all students to participate in scholastic sports, has also been raised as an issue. Socio-economic status, family make-up and physical or mental disabilities have sometimes precluded students from participation. Harrison and Narayan's 2003 study found that adolescents from single parent homes were less likely to participate as were those from substance abusing families. (p.119) Courts have intervened, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, in cases where disabled students were not allowed to play on scholastic teams, despite the student's Individual Education Plan (IEP) stating "that he needed to participate in football to benefit from his education and the District's failure to allow him to do so denied him an appropriate education." (Sullivan et al. p.260)

Advantages of Participation

Developmental theorists argue the positive effects of athletic participation. (Marsh & Kleitman, 2003; Miller et al. 2005) Their view advocates a contribution to better academic performance by developing skills, habits, and values transferrable to the classroom. Miller et al. 2005 refer to an integration of students into a pro-social network of adults and peers, incentives to remain in school, a need to maintain good grades, and a connectedness