7 Ways High School Sports Benefit Student-Athletes

Some of the biggest benefits of sports participation, at any age, are the physical benefits. The physical activity that sports require can increase muscle tone and strength, flexibility and coordination levels, and overall body conditioning. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, physical activity can increase bone density, strengthen the heart and lungs, and improve energy levels. Physical activity can also help student-athletes maintain a healthy body weight through continued exercise. Without sports participation, athletes might not get as much physical activity, therefore missing out on the physical benefits it provides.

Sports provide many physical benefits to athletes, but looking even deeper into the physical benefits can lead to some surprising results. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), sports involvement can reduce the risk of several diseases including obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and even cancer. Physical activity is a great way for athletes to regulate body weight, reducing the chance of obesity. Physical activity also strengthens the heart and bones, helping to prevent the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. The AMA even claims that physical activity reduces the risk of cancer. Since they require such high levels of physical activity, participation in sports can reduce the risk of these diseases.

Stewart Vella, a Ph.D. in psychology, suggests that increased sports participation positively correlates with increased positive mental and emotional states, specifically in adolescents. Sports involvement is also positively correlated with higher self-confidence, and higher personal achievement. These positive correlations are due to multiple reasons. Sports are a great way for student-athletes to witness their forward progress and the completion of their goals, which leads to a feeling of accomplishment and confidence. Sports can also be a way for student-athletes to escape the stressors of everyday life, which can help reduce the development of depression-- something that many adolescents struggle with.

Participation in sports-- especially team sports-- allows for the development of interpersonal communication skills and positively correlates with greater levels of social behaviors. They serve as great places for student-athletes to build relationships and learn to communicate with their peers comfortably and effectively. According to Diana Samek, Ph.D. and assistant professor, sports are a great way to diminish the persistent antisocial behaviors that carry through from adolescence to adulthood. Critics could argue that any extracurricular activities could have these impacts on social behavior. However, through studies it was determined that sports are the only extracurricular activities that have this effect.

During adolescence many individuals go through a period in which they feeling alone. Speaking from personal experience, getting involved in sports can be a great way for students to avoid that feeling. Before I was involved in sports I felt like I didn't really fit in or have a place in school. However, once I became a part of my high school sports teams, I didn't feel that way anymore. Sports provide a place where students can connect with their peers and build relationships with them. It's a place where they can fit in with others, develop a common passion with others, and be a part of something with others.

Especially in small towns, the success of sports teams are talked about everywhere; the topic comes up anywhere from coffee shop chit-chat, to the checkout line at the supermarket, to a casual walk through the city park. Sports not only create a sense of connection and belonging between student-athletes, but also create that same sense between student-athletes and their community.

Through participation in sports, student-athletes can develop many versatile skills that will not only benefit them in sports, but also in the classroom, in working environments, and in every day life. Sports teams require leadership, work-ethic, determination, perseverance, and teamwork from each individual athlete in order to be successful. Classroom and working environments require the same things from each individual in order to be run successfully. In addition, the need to balance both school and sports introduces a need for organization and time-management skills, which both transfer to classroom and working environments as well.

While some critics argue that sports pose detrimental effects on the academic abilities of student-athletes, according to "The Link Between Sports and Academic Performance," it has been proven that involvement in sports positively correlates with higher grade point averages as well as higher test scores (specifically in English, mathematics, and science). Due to athletic codes put in place, student-athletes are required to maintain certain academic levels in order to be eligible to participate. This encourages them to spend time on their studies to ensure they are in good academic standing.

In addition, Sarah Eiserman-- teacher at Badger High School in Lake Geneva-- suggests that participation in sports tends to correlate positively with increased overall amounts of time spent on homework, as well as increased association with peers that also value time spent on academics, which can lead to greater academic success. Therefore, while student-athletes may not be spending their after-school time studying or doing homework, they are still spending more time overall in these areas than their non-athletic peers.