Which Is Overuled; Sport or Academics

ACADEMICS OR SPORT

Dear Mr Palmer,
In my opinion, sports are in the way. Yes, children’s obesity rates are increasing in England but this isn’t an excuse to ruin their future career. Therefore, I am writing to you in order to hopefully persuade you to take into more consideration about where the bursaries are being allocated.
The fact that most athletes spend more time participating in sporting activities rather than focusing on their education may ultimately have a negative impact on their career. If the children and teens want to take up any sport; they can do it in their free time. There are many after-school clubs that they can happily join which includes a great range of equipment. Although most student athletes never become professionals, they spend excessive amounts of time playing sports neglecting their education. According to Mary Tedrow, a high school English teacher ‘Most high school athletes never make it to professional sports, yet year after year high schools around the country spend a disproportional amount of money on varsity sports while neglecting academics.’
I also take into consideration what my fellow class mates think and also brief comments I hear my teachers say. I commemorate a time when Eva Dennison said ‘if I wanted to do sport all the time, I would have gone to a sport school instead.’ I completely agree with this statement because there are many schools with excessive sport lessons and academic lessons. At Rossall, I know that it is hard for boarders to be able to take part in clubs outside of school so the gym and swimming pool are acceptable and are a great idea but for more money to be spent on sports than academics is ridiculous. You can do sports after graduating or qualifying because then you have more free time. Would you rather focus on your future or you weight and fitness?
I think two P.E lessons; at the maximum, is suitable and should be stopped at the end of year 9 because year 10 is the start of a child’s GCSE and is when they need to focus the most. If the child decides to like the sport they can do it at after school activities. Something else I think should be stopped is after school sports activities being compulsory for year 10. This is ridiculous because the people who do not want to be there are just ruining it for the rest of the students who do. Also, the time being taken up to do sport can be a time do prep.
Athletes need to plan ahead for the possibility that they will not have a future in professional sports. Approximately 5.8% of high school athletes move on and play collegiate sports. Of that 5.8%, only a mere 3.1% of college athletes go and play professional sports. Despite the research which shows the need to stress academics over athletics, there are some who believe that a sport is their ticket to success. However, I do not feel this way about the subject and bursaries need to be hindered against sporting activities. There are many possible solutions to balance academics with athletics. One possible solution may be to screen perspective student athletes before accepting them into colleges. This screening process may help determine whether or not a student should be eligible to enter a post-secondary institution.

Ultimately, a student athlete’s education is a crucial part of their college experience. While sports may be a major focus for some, the academic component is vital. Academics success leads to more career opportunities and acts as a fall back plan for failed professional athletes. Since the research shows that the number of college athletes who make it to into professional sports is small, it is important that sports are not favoured over academics.