Effects of Interscholastic Sports on Academic Achievement

Running head: EFFECTS OF INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS ON PARTICIPANT'S

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.

Function of Interscholastic Sports and Their Effect on
Participant's Academic Achievement.

 
Function of Interscholastic Sports and Their Effect
On Academic Achievement
While the first account of humans engaged in learning may well be the story of Adam and Eve, the origins of team sports are virtually unknown. Perhaps, team sport pre-dates the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The arguments among educators, however, concerning the relevance of team sports to academic achievement may be equally as ancient. In Plato's foundational document of western philosophy, Republic, sport serves the educational objectives of personal virtue and intellectual achievement. The philosopher posits the idea that athletics "cultivates the qualities necessary to endure the long and arduous climb toward knowledge that is philosophy."(Reid, 2007, p. 167) But still today, it is common to hear faculty discussions degrading the value of athletics from the college level down to junior high school. Many believe athletics represent the worst aspects of academia. Yet the tradition of scholastic team sports has survived. This survivorship suggests a symbiosis between athletics and academics very different from the adversarial relation common in faculty discussions. (McCormick & Tinsley, 1987, p. 1103) Indeed, it would be odd within a cultural context characterized by competitiveness, to imagine an educational system which denies the relevance of athletic competition. (Reid, 2007) In the educator's attempt to determine the appropriate relationship between athletics and academics, the key factor appears to be how the individual athlete balances the demands of participating in interscholastic sports with academic responsibilities. (Byrd & Ross, 1991) Further to be determined is the effect of team sport participation on the academic achievement of the

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