Title: Train Today, Tomorrow, Everyday: How Student Athletes Cope The Academic Pressure

INTRODUCTION
Athletes work on their strength and conditioning almost continuously, which allows them to recognize
changes in their behavior and academic performance. This can be stressful for them because they are
under pressure to maintain good grades to play, which increases the risk that their training efforts will
be useless. The student–athlete, to qualify and compete in the school’s conducted program and have a
good academic standing (DEPED, 2021). Any student-athlete's primary task is to comply with
academic requirements for them to finish their schooling (NCAA, 2019). Even our first-hand sources
have to hand in assignments just made in school since they have to attend and participate in the class
regularly.
secondary sports or competition must be enrolled in at least the minimum full-time curricular
The additional problems that athletes must overcome in relation to their dual roles as students and
athletes include time spent training, competition schedules, coping with injuries, having access to social
support for their particular sport, and playing status (Santos, 2020).

Student-athletes are expected to be role models for the school community as well as players who
represent their institutions. Nevertheless, despite the good impression they give off, they are viewed as
a vulnerable group (Yang, et al., 2007; Wilson & Pritchard, 2005). They are at a disadvantage since
they spend the majority of their time training rather than studying, which increases their stress levels.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021), it states that stress has an impact on the
body and the brain and that too much of it may be harmful. Stress may harm a student's mental and
physical health as well as their ability to perform effectively in sports in this way (Ivarsson et al., 2017;
Li et al., 2017).

Global Context.

Meanwhile, many student-athletes worldwide are dealing with academic pressure. According to the
ACSM (2022), student-athletes in the United States experience stress from competing and academic
pressures in addition to other stressors like being away from home, traveling for games, feeling cut off
from campus and other students due to their focus on sport, and making adjustments to being in the
public eye. According to Göktaş (2005), one of the biggest challenges at Ghanaian public university
athletes is finding the time to successfully balance their twin responsibilities as students and athletes.
According to Manning (2012), student-athletes differ from non-athletes in that they must dedicate a
significant amount of extra time to their sports activities in addition to their usual academic work and
allocate enough time to meet their personal social needs. According to Kissinger and Miller (2009),
who cited Etzel (1989), managing the time demands necessary to handle all of the many activities that
are specific to student-athletes frequently proves to be too much to handle and leaves players
vulnerable to mental and physical distress. Geiger (2013) noted that in addition to time constraints,
general fatigue from practice and competition could have a negative effect on student-performance
athlete's in the classroom by wearing them out physically and emotionally. Regardless of how student
athletes handled academic pressure, there is a snowball effect that leads to better academic performance
in the United States when students feel good about themselves as a result of participating in athletics.
Self-worth influences how much effort people are willing to put forth and how persistent they are in the
face of challenges or setbacks (Bandura, 1997).

Asian

This kind of case where student athletes deal with academic pressure happens in Asia. In Beijing
China, students who participate in sports are frequently thought of as belonging to a subpopulation that
has it harder and is more prone to engage in risky activities for their health (Divin, 2009). Additionally,
some research has indicated that they lack good eating practices (Divin, 2009; Pustivek et al., 2019).
This unhealthy behavior may be partially explained by intentional weight gain or loss (Pustivek et al.,
2019). Further research into depression in student athletes has revealed that female athletes exhibit
higher levels of depression than their male counterparts (Storch et al., 2005; Yang et al., 2007; Wolanin
et al., 2016). Given their devotion to both academics and athletics and the strain of competing, their
rate of depression is roughly the same as that of their non-athlete peers (Yang et al., 2007). However,
some research indicates that student athletes lead healthier lives than non-athlete individuals. Their
physical and emotional health may benefit from organized sport training. Their physical and emotional
health may benefit from organized sport training. They perform better in sleep (Edwards and Froehle,
2021), diet habits, and physical activity (Nattiv et al., 1997; Clemente et al., 2016).

Philippines

This drawback is also common among student athletes in the Philippines. Time management and
academic pressure on student-athletes are also prevalent, which can be a major source of stress.
Williams and Andersen (1998); Ivarsson et al. (2017) stated that the impact of stress is individualistic
and subjective by nature. In 2018, there were 364 athletes of the Eastern Samar Division who
participated in the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) Meet that was organized
by the Department of Education and among the said numbers of student-athletes who joined, only 12%
of them got a weighted average of 90% and above from the school year 2017-2018 (Escoto and Alfero,
2022).

Local

In our group there are three of us who were once a student – athlete. They once struggled to strike a
balance between their academic and athletic responsibilities, while coping with the demands of being
both a student and an athlete. They experienced having low scores and one of them actually went to
being discouraged due to its academic performance which resulted of them not going to school and just
wait for their training to start. As we conduct this research, we are well aware of how difficult the
struggles of each student athlete is and how important it is to our understanding of the study. We
pursued this study in order to learn more about how student athletes deal with the burden of academics
because we still frequently observe athletes who struggle with it.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to delve into the academic struggles and coping
strategies of the high school students in Digos City, Philippines.

THEORETICAL LENS
This study can be most effectively understood when viewed through the framework of two different
coping strategies: Stressors, Coping and Support Mechanisms for Student-Athletes Combining Elite
Sport and Tertiary Education: Implications for Practice of Cosh and Tully (2015) and The Challenges
of a High Performance Student Athlete of Gomez et al. (2018). These models have tried to categorize
coping tactics based on various aspects and analyze the relationship between stress and training
management due to a drawback and the coping methods used by an individual.
The Stressors, Coping and Support Mechanism for Student-Athletes, Combining Elite Sport and
Tertiary Education: Implications for Practice, asserts that the coping mechanism of students is to
compete more to their sport, in order to deal with frustration and pretend that they do not care about
their classes in order to avoid feeling inadequate. This model will be advantageous to our study on how
student-athletes of Digos City would handle their academic stress. Particularly, these student-athletes
would reassess the situation to lessen its importance (Cox & Ferguson, 1991). In addition, the ways to
protect top student-athletes from the strains of their sport competition includes motivation and
perceived social support (Fletcher & Saukar, 2012).
The Challenges of a High Performance Student Athlete, on the other hand, states that the strategy
used by the students to balance their athletic and academic demands is the method of training
management. Top athletes invest a lot of time, dedication, and care into their training. Therefore,
optimal training adaption, stress and recovery must be carefully balanced with academic program
requirements (J. Gomez et al., 2018). Moreover, being a part of a varsity athletic team requires a large
amount of time and work to satisfy the requirements of practices, meetings, training, film sessions, and
games (Rothschild-Checroune et al. 2013). This method will help researchers in establishing the coping
experiences of participants in Digos City.
Both of the coping models will help establish our study's theoretical basis through two methods:
competing more through their sport in order to avoid classes and resisting the feeling of being
inadequate. Utilize a training management approach to strike a balance between their academic and
athletic requirements. These models will also contribute to our study as a guide to the respondents.

Research Questions
1. What are the challenges of the high school student athletes in Digos City, Philippines on balancing
their responsibilities as a student and an athlete?
2. What are the coping strategies of the high school student athletes in Digos City, Philippines?

Significance of the Study

This study will explore the lives of the student athletes that will contribute to build upon the knowledge
relevant to their coping strategies inclined to their academic performance, it can benefit the following:

Department of Education

Athletic Associations

School Administrators
This will aid leaders of the educational institution in putting policies for the well - being of the student-
athletes. Focusing those students potentially identified having a hard time managing their academic
performance, with their situation being a student – athlete.

Guidance Counselors
Through this study, these professionals will help counsel and guide student – athletes regarding their
academic and personal behavior.

Teachers
Teachers have a significant role on a student- athlete’s life. One of the responsibilities of a teacher is to
motivate students to achieve their full potential. Through this research, they will develop their capacity
for problem – solving to assist student- athletes in overcoming their challenges.

Student Athletes
The result of this study will help student athletes pursue their passion for sports while making
tremendous progress toward their academic and career goals, to bring home the biggest trophy and
triumph for the schools they represent.

Family of the Student Athletes

Future Researchers

Scope and Limitations

This study only focuses on the lived experiences of the high school student athletes in Digos City,
Philippines. It was administered from February to March of 2023.

Definition of Terms
The following are terms defined operationally for the better understanding of the study:
Student-Athletes
This refers to a full time student who is enrolled in their selected schools and spends their time training
and taking part in an organzied and competitive athletic program provided by the school.

Coping
This refers to how the student-athletes emotions and behaviors are mobilized to handle diffucult
situation both internally and outside.

Academic
This refers to the pressure placed on student-athletes by the necessity of keeping up academic
obligations (such as homeworks, tests, projects, etc.) while undergoing rigorous daily training to retain
particular grades in order to keep them playing.

Vulnerable
This refers to student -athletes who are physically, mentally or socially challenged individuals who may
need special support because they are unable to handle the burden of their academic obligations.