Why do Academics and Sports go Together?
Athletics and Academics: Can they work Together?
Sports and academics are two very important ways in which an athlete can grow and mature. Although usually seen as separate, the two can work in unison to foster a positive and worthwhile experience for young athletes. For this week, we will offer some of our opinions on how sports can benefit academics and how academics can benefit sports. Let's get right into it!
Discipline
The word discipline is always thrown around in the academic and athletic world. For sports, being disciplined is a goal that most athletes have, because it means that they are going to get better and possibly play more. Furthermore, being disciplined allows athletes to gain respect from their coach and their teammates. Sounds great, right? As an athlete, having a ton of discipline is something that is admirable, makes your athletic experience more fun, and opens up more opportunities. However, when the word discipline is used in the classroom, it usually has a negative connotation. For most, doing really well in class, getting good grades, and getting better doesn't sound that cool. Gaining respect from classmates and the teacher doesn't offer up much reason for a younger student to be motivated. However, playing organized sports allows young athletes to practice the art of discipline. School may still not be as fun, but the same techniques used to stay motivated, get better, and be respectful will replicate in the classroom. Once these young athletes head to college, where the academic and athletic life truly combine, the skills learned from sports early on will be pivotal to excel in the classroom.
Working with Others
In both school and organized sports, participating and working with others is a part of the “game”. In the classroom and at school, students are forced to work with and be around other students that they may or may not get along with. Additionally, students have to do homework together, work on projects together, and attend all sort of events. It is undoubtedly difficult to work with certain types of people, but school teaches young people to deal with differing personalities, opinions, and habits, in order to work together. It is an invaluable skill to be able to work with anyone, and years of schooling helps build up these types of communication and “workability” techniques. Now, it is a bit different with sports. Especially with club and travel teams, the group of people can be smaller and come from all different types of places in the nearby area. In a high stress environment of competing and working towards getting better, as well as seeing and traveling with the same group of people over and over again, there will be times when personalities cross and players bud heads. However, it is important to see that having a previous understanding of working and succeeding with others will help younger athletes become successful. Also, working with others in sports will help in the classroom the same way that working well in the classroom will create skills for overcoming hardships in the athletic world.
Time Management
As previously stated, the older an athlete gets, and the more serious they become, the more academics and athletics will merge. College athletes, for example, have their work and play life perfectly integrated. However, that is not by accident and takes years of practice and experience. Starting young with a big focus on sports and academics forces athletes to start balancing their lives. Balance and integration is not only helpful for college, but in life. There will always be many important things to juggle. Instead of focusing on one thing at a time, being able to handle multiple things is an important skill to have. Therefore, sports and academics work very well to foster balance and to have good time management.
Thank you, and we will be back next week for another blog post! Please feel free to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for updates and news for all things Top Tier.
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