Benefits of Student Athleticism

Being a student comes with many challenges and adversities. Being a student athlete requires commitment and a positive, ambitious, mindset. Collegiate level student athletes must be self-disciplined and they must be willing to give one hundred percent of their efforts to both their academic career and to the sport in which they participate. Because being a student athlete requires so much of scholars, it requires students to learn a lot of useful life skills.

[endif]--According to the NCAA, student athletes maintain a high graduation rate. In fact, the graduation success rate has been continuing to climb over the past decade. It is now at an all-time high of eighty-six percent students graduating college.

Figure 1, Kaitlyn Bixby, Data retrieved from NCAA.org

It is important for student athletes to do well academically because they are required to maintain a specific grade in order to participate in their sport. However, the incentive to do well in school is going to increase in the upcoming years. Beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, athletes who achieve academic success will now see a portion of revenue go to their schools. This change will increase the existing desire for student athletes to succeed academically.

Not only does participating in a collegiate sport benefit students academically, it also teaches them teamwork. Bradley Moore, 25, played tennis for University of North Carolina, Charlotte. “Being a part of a sport absolutely taught me valuable lessons about teamwork and cooperation.” These lessons of teamwork transfer to real life situations for many students. “I would definitely give credit to playing tennis in college to giving me the cooperation skills I have today. It also taught me how to be a leader, I would lead study groups in my spare time for my biology class,” said Moore. Devan Koski, former hockey player for Florida Atlantic University and current lacrosse coach for Maclay High School, said being a student athlete “gives you a group at school that will always have your back in and out of the classroom.”

Being a student athlete also teaches people the skills of time management and self-discipline. Since student athletes have busy schedules, they need to learn prioritize their activities. Time management is an important skill that is difficult for many students to learn. But participating in a sport while attending school full-time, forces one to manage time efficiently.

Finally, participating in a collegiate sport could lead to a career. Many collegiate athletes go on to play sports professionally. However, even if a student athlete does not end up playing a sport professionally, the time spent as a student athlete and the lessons learned during that time transfer over to anything they do in life. These lessons of teamwork, time management, and commitment are priceless keys to one’s success in life.

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