What is the Relationship Between a Student Athlete and Their Education?
This is my sixth year as a high school principal and the eleventh year overall in administration at the high school level. My admin career began as an assistant principal for one year then Dean of the Freshman Academy at an urban school in Texas at the same school. That year, I developed what has ended up being a fairly standard speech that I give freshman everywhere I am. The lesson applies to all grades at the high school level, but it is tailored for what makes a successful high school student, which is what freshmen need to know.
One of the characteristics I discuss with them is that they need to be involved in something.
I’m not concerned as to what they are involved in at school, just as long as they are involved in something, whether it be fine arts, a club or organization, or athletics. We pass out a list or direct them to signs or tables where they can join these teams.
The fact is most students do not wake up and say, “Oh boy, I get to write another essay today!” In fact, most students wake up, come to school, and look forward to their athletics practices, what club meets that day, and when their next band or choir practice will be.
Athletics has proven to be one of the best ways to get students connected and involved in a school. I may be biased; I am from Texas, I played high school football and baseball, and then played four years of college baseball. But truthfully, athletics connects students, brings some great outside elements to the school and community, and helps monetarily with many other programs.
Studies on what they see in students who are in athletics, find improvements of work ethic, academic achievement, self-esteem, behavior both in and out school, and time management. In short, positive impacts across the board.
A 2013 article by Vanover and DeBower called “The Impact of Intercollegiate Athletics in Higher Education” showed how athletics was a powerful money maker for higher education colleges that were more successful. For example, many of the schools in the Football Championship Series reported 40% or more increases in athletic budgets. This was not just limited to football; basketball also showed some measurable impacts.
Success at many higher education schools where athletics were successful, also saw increases in enrollment. With more students and money flowing into these schools, more of the college can benefit. Many athletic programs will have money to not only fund their entire athletic program, leaving more money for the college to use in other places, but often the physical and mental health of the rest of the student body benefits. Many student fitness centers and kinesiology/physical science related programs are started and funded through athletic money.
These studies, along with many others show the impact of athletics on students in the classroom and the benefits for schools. From my personal experience, what athletics can do for a school’s identity and to bring the community together is powerful. In small towns, the local business district will shut down so that people can attend games.
The Importance of Student Athletics to Education and Schools
The connection between athletics, schools, and education is powerful thus, here are a few more specific impacts:
Sense of Belonging
On Friday night, our school will bus our football team, cheerleading team, dance team, band, and broadcast club to one game. Athletics is the only event in school that brings with it this kind of fanfare. It gives students, who otherwise might not be involved, a way to be connected.
For example, our broadcast club that started this year has students who would never be interested in athletics, but give them a camera to run, and computer to produce a broadcast with and these students now have a home.
In the end, almost one-third of our student population is involved in some way in our football game…and I have not even mentioned those in the stands.
Community Pride
It was mentioned earlier that enrollment at winning schools is higher than others and that small towns will shut down so that their community can go see the game that night. The fact is, people, students, etc. want to be connected to something and want to be connected to successful programs. Athletics is an easy way for a community to identify themselves, show support, and connect with a winner. Much like what we do with high school students in connecting them with something, athletics provides an identity for the community.
Skills for Success
One of the benefits from the study mentioned above was that student-athletes had better time management skills. This is developed in students because of the nature of the need to manage time between school, practice, studies, and possibly work. To be successful in life beyond high school, these students have to learn how to balance those four tenants.
This is just one example of the skills needed for success in the real world. Others of these would include teamwork and simply the discipline to work on something and continuously improve every day for something greater than yourself. These skills carry over into the classroom and translate to success. The benefits of the marriage that is athletics in education is one that cannot be denied.
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