A lot of people always have the same thought when it comes to studying for school, and that is the fact that you need to keep always studying constantly so you can do better on tests or assignments.
But what if there is another way that could be more beneficial?
What if the secret to getting better grades in all your classes is not just more study time, but also more playing time as well?
There are a lot of things that student-athletes have to utilize to perfect their game, and one of the most important parts is discipline.
You have to make sure that you are not only in shape, but you have to maintain some consistency in how you practice, which is helped by keeping yourself accountable and trying not to do things that might harm your ability to compete at a high level, such as skipping workouts and an unhealthy diet.
With this, your academics can improve as well because the discipline you have can help you maintain a studying habit, and a studying habit is a pretty big factor for the highest scoring students in any of the classes. They make sure that they are consistently taking in enough information to succeed off the field, the same way they are consistently working out and taking care of themselves to succeed on the field.
I also think that there is also a little bit of added motivation for these athletes to perform better in the classroom with all of the eligibility requirements in place here in Texas. It is a University Interscholastic League rule that every student-athlete must have at least 70% in all of their classes, or else the student-athlete is ineligible to compete in competitions. This makes those athletes a little bit more cautious about their grades than if they did not play a sport.
Physical fitness also improves the confidence and concentration required for better academic performance. At the end of a workout, even if your body is physically tired, your mind ends up being more active.
As a student-athlete myself, I understand the different cases from both sides of the argument. On one hand, I have been told how much the sport could be interfering in the way of my studies, but I’ve also seen the other part, where the different things I have learnt and processed from our football coaches have seemingly benefitted me in terms of how I view my school work.
Most of our football coaches tried to enforce some type of work ethic on us in different ways, such as setting timers for us to do a lot of things in the weight room so we can be efficient, like cleaning up, and also not guide us through everything as we needed to learn ourselves instead of the coaches just telling everything to us.
This ended up helping me make a study pattern based on efficiency, with me trying to only study the important parts of a unit that I know will help me a lot. This contributed to my grades doing better.
High school sports help with improving academic performances. There are not only the lessons you learn that are involved, but also the mindset you obtain, which can end up being the most unexpected gift you took in from high school sports
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