Why do people allow kids to play sports at the expense of academics?
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Anonymous
B's are not above average for college bound students. Does anyone in this board truly view a c as an average grade? I would guess most view a C as a bad grade. |
Anonymous
Yes, as demonstrated by the great social skills, life skills, and work ethic of members of the NFL. |
Anonymous
It's funny, but I used to ask this exact question of my husband. In the early years of our marriage, he would go on and on about how everything important he learned from life came from sports: the ability to work as part of a team, be a leader, etc. I would roll my eyes and point out that he and I seemed to have arrived at pretty much the exact same point in life--education, career, and value-wise--despite the fact that I had never participated in team sports. Fast forward to many years later with two very serious athlete children and one who is interested in sports but not as athletically gifted, and I have a really different perspective on it. Comparing myself to my husband and my older kids, I've come to see how much harder I had to work to become confident and decisive, and how much longer it took than it did/has for them. I think if you work hard at sports and take them seriously, you learn life lessons much more quickly and efficiently than you do just by living and figuring things out. And if you learn to be assertive and figure out the teamwork angle early, you get more out of school and social interactions, with less anxiety. The difference between my less athletic child before and after getting into sports are pretty striking too--school is more comfortable and enjoyable for little boys who are perceived as being decent at sports and recess activities. Some of those benefits may not happen if you play sports more casually, just for fun, though you of course can make friends and help to get fit through that approach. Whatever level though, I've come to think that sports are wonderful for kids of all abilities, and I don't have "justify" the time and money we spend on it. I also love the social scene with the other sports parents and extended families. It's nice to be part of that sort of community. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
I was perfectly fine at sports and had fun doing them. It just really don't see how it truly improved my leadership or teamwork skills. |
Anonymous
I'm more or less the same person as above (except I don't work in academia). I totally regret that in my entire life I played sports for exactly one 3 month season when I was 8 years old. Even though I would have been terrible at sports, I think that I would have been better off playing - I really enjoyed that season! And I know that DSS is more focused and passionate about everything when he's playing sports. |
Anonymous
Depends on where you get those B's and what else you have to offer. That's where sports can come in and make a difference for some. |
Anonymous
Why do people assume that kids are more likely to gain teamwork and leadership skills from sports rather than participating in scouts, clubs, drama, band, orchestra, or after school jobs? For all the people who are impressed when seeing sports on a resume, does the same apply to these other activities? Honestly any activity where kids are working with others has the potential to develop teamwork and leadership. Many of them also are less time consuming and experience to boot. Why is it necessary to spend $$$ and 15+ hours a week to build these skills? |
Anonymous
| "Expensive" |
Anonymous
I hate to say it, but because sports are considered "cool" by adults in the workplace. That's not to say that those other things don't help make you a well-rounded person, or that there aren't settings where experience in music or drama or scouts is respected, but sports are sort of a currency among so-called successful people in many settings. Just like golf is considered a desired networking forum while other sports/activities aren't (ever hear a senior exec suggest an outing to the bowling alley to discuss a developing deal?). Not fair, but it is what it is. I do think that kids who have worked or started their own businesses also have a leg up say over someone who played the cello in orchestra for 4 years. It's because it comes with related skills that can be useful in the work place. |
Anonymous
Just as an aside -- this "fact" which is often bandied about when discussing kids and sports is not really relevant for any sport other than football which has no club/travel side. The reality is that college recruitment is done out of club and travel sports. College coaches may well pay attention to high school basketball (particularly girls where AAU options are fewer), and will absolutely look at certain times achieved in (some) meets, but in most situations and sports, college coaches will be watching and recruiting out of club/travel. Now -- within club/travel sports there are obviously multiple layers based on competitive ability. Of course, not every kid on a "top team" is good enough to play/compete at a high level in college, and not every kid on a lower level team is unable to compete at a high level in college. And, there are multiple levels of play post-high school: Professional (particularly in baseball and hockey (juniors)), Div I, Div II, Div III, NAIA and Junior College. Scholarships are handled differently at every level and by sport, and Div III has no athletic scholarships (nor does the Ivy League which competes at Div I levels for most of their sports). My daughter plays soccer in college and I have a son who is a junior and going through the recruitment process now so I am most familiar with that sport. All but 4 of the girls (out of 20) on her uu17 and u18 club teams went on to play in college. The 4 who did not could have played at smaller schools, but each elected to go to a large school and not play. Was there something "magic" about that team? No. It was probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the state that we lived in at the time. The top 5 or so teams would have about the same ration of kids going on to play in college, and, of course, other kids would move on from other teams that were not quite as competitive. There are a lot of opportunities out there, but in girls soccer you know pretty early where you stand (recruiting is well underway in the kids' sophomore year and pretty much done by this time in the girls' junior year - at least for Div I as scholarship money gets committed). For boys it is a little later as they physically mature later. With the exception of the very top level players, coaches are more willing to wait until the junior year and beginning of senior year. Again though, on my son's team which is not a Development Academy team (the top level of boys' youth soccer) about half the kids are looking at partial scholarship offers now. TLDR - No one should care about what percent of kids playing in high school go on to play in college or get an athletic scholarship. That is not the pool from which college athletes are recruited (aside from football). While obviously such things are very individually based, if you were a parent with a 10 year old who you think might want to play in college the statistics to look at would be the percentage of kids playing/competing at level X in my kid's sport who go on to play/compete in college. And, can my kid compete at level X. (Lots of kids play club/travel sports for reasons other than trying to get a college scholarship -- fun being the most important, but also for something to do in the summer, or to be able to make a high school team, or to get/stay in shape, etc. . . |
Anonymous
| The amount of calorie intake these days requires a lot of gym time. Sport teaches a lot of disciplines that cannot be learned in text books. Team work, variable changes, how to win and lose, give and take, thinking on your feet, empathy to name a few. I have an A student and I require 1 sport every season. They're not super sport stars. I just don't want them to be part of the obese statistics. It's not at the expense of academics. If you don't have your health you have nothing so it is not at the expense of anything. |
Anonymous
My daughter will never be a professional basketball player, so you're right. Her ability to dribble a basketball or run plays or make three pointers isn't going to take her far in life. But health is important, both physical and mental. Academics help teach her one method of being intellectually strong and active. Sports help teach her one method of being physically strong and active. The practice of physical activity is important. Athletic skills are one way to make that practice habitual and lifelong. |
Anonymous
Yes, of course somebody who worked or started their own businesses has different skills from somebody who played cello in an orchestra. Just as somebody who played cello in an orchestra has different skills from somebody who worked or started their own business. But since the discussion is about sports, neither is relevant to the thread. |