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Kerry Donoher

English 1201

Professor Waggoner

13 July 2020

How does playing sports in high school benefit you in life?

Many people say that playing sports doesn’t just teach you how to play the game, but also

many different important lessons in life. High school is a very important time in your life and

impacts how you are as a person. It is a time to find who you are and who you want to do with

your life. The things you can take away from playing sports are beneficial in many situations.

From playing sports, you can learn how to be dedicated by having to go to lots of practices and

games. That can translate into the classroom and having to be dedicated to learning the material.

So, what are the benefits playing sports can make in your life? Are there any negatives from

playing sports?

There have been lots of studies done on sports teams with how playing affects the

athletes. A study that took place at a high school in Canada was taken to see what skills the

players learned throughout the season. They studied a high school men's soccer team for a season

by going to all the practices and games. They took notes of what they saw and also had

interviews with the coaches and players. The results showed that some of the skills learned were

initiative, respect, and teamwork/leadership. Most of the lessons weren’t directly taught to them,

they learned from their experiences they had themselves. The study also talked about how it

depends on the structure of the program. If the coach isn’t modeling the correct behavior and

showing the players how they should act, they won’t be learning any lessons. Another study

showed the status of high school athletes eight years after their senior year. They examined the
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educational, labor market, and health status of a group of elite, varsity, and JV players and

people that didn’t play sports. that graduated in 1992. With their research, they found a positive

relationship between their status and playing sports in high school. Elite and varsity athletes

experienced greater educational and labor market success than nonathletes. They also included

other things that you could take into consideration for further studies that might affect the

outcomes.

Not only does playing sports in high school help with your academic performance, but it

also helps your overall health. Getting exercise is good for your body and helps lower your risk

of having strokes, high cholesterol, and diabetes. It helps strengthen your bones and muscles too.

Exercising can release endorphins in your brain and help you improve your focus, memory, and

even your mood. Taking care of your body when you are younger can help you a lot in the

future. This shows that not only does playing sports help you stay fit and your academics, but it

will also help you in the long run.

Although there are lots of positives that come from playing sports, there are also some

negatives. Playing sports could induce more stress or pressure onto an athlete. Between playing

sports, having tough classes, working part-time, and having time to hang out with friends, it can

be a lot for some people if they don’t manage their time very well. Pressure on athletes can come

from themselves, coaches, or even parents. Playing sports is a way to have fun and some people

can take them too seriously. Athletes can also feel pressured into playing a sport because of a

sibling or parent that used to play. It should be up to them to make the decision and play because

they want to. There was another study done to see if high school sports participation has

anything to do with future education, labor market, and health outcomes. This study showed the

opposite of the previous study, it showed that there was no consistent evidence for education and
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labor market benefits. It did show that male athletes are more likely to exercise as an adult, but

not any less likely to become obese. It also agreed with the statement by Heywood Hale Broun

that, “Sports reveals character, it doesn’t build it.”

As you can see, there are many benefits to playing sports in high school. There

are some negatives that can come from it, but the good weighs out the bad. Not only are there

health benefits, but there are also academic improvements. By playing sports in high school, you

can help prepare yourself for your future and learn a lot of important life lessons.
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Works Cited

Carlson, Deven, et al. “What Is the Status of High School Athletes 8 Years after Their Senior

Year?” Statistic in Brief, Sept. 2005, doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f. Accessed 11 July

2020.

Holt, Nicholas, et al. “Do Youth Learn Life Skills through Their Involvement in High School

Sport? A Case Study.” 2008, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ797193.pdf . Accessed 11 July

2020.

Inan, Serin and Tolga Tildiz, directors. How Playing Sports Benefits Your Body and Your Brain.

TED, TED-Ed, 28 June 2016, ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-sports-benefits-your-

body-and-your-brain-leah-lagos-and-jaspal-ricky-singh. Accessed 11 July 2020.

Ransom, Michael R., and Tyler Ransom. “Do High School Sports Build or Reveal Character?

Bounding Causal Estimates of Sports Participation.” Economics of Education Review,

vol. 64, June 2018, pp. 75–89. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.04.002.

Accessed 11 July 2020.

Silverman, Tami. “Back to School and Back to Sports: The Pros and Cons of School Athletics.”

Indiana Youth Institute, 13 Aug. 2019, www.iyi.org/back-to-school-and-back-to-sports-

the-pros-and-cons-of-school-athletics/. Accessed 18 July 2020.