When starting high school, nothing is scarier for a freshman than navigating through classes, acclimating to your new school environment, and trying to keep to yourself. Some students might prefer to remain almost invisible, keeping a low profile through high school. Becoming an athlete can help with developing different life skills and can work to break even the shyest students out of their shells.
Student-athletes will have an outlet to make long-lasting friendships with like-minded people. All across the world, on average, student-athletes have higher grade-point averages, better attendance records, lower dropout rates, and fewer disciplinary concerns than students who don’t participate in sport. It would be erroneous to say sports serve as a distraction – this notion is merely a myth.
Sports are a huge incentive for student-athletes to do well academically. In most cases – student-athletes are required to satisfy mandatory academic conditions in order to be/or remain eligible to participate in sports. High school student-athletes learn about accountability and the importance of how that will bring value to them throughout their lives.
From an academic standpoint, colleges will recruit not only based on athletic ability but whether or not athletes have proven their ability to balance the workload of school and sport. They size up your GPA, attendance, & discipline among other things that will get colleges interested in acquiring your services.
Student-athletes become immersed in an environment that provides to them a sense of community and camaraderie. Students learn how to work hard, remain disciplined, and hold others to achieving and maintaining a high standard. These are some of the main factors that contribute to low dropout rates and good grades. Additionally, student-athletes will benefit from their newly acquired leadership skills.
From an athletic perspective, playing multiple sports is extremely beneficial for high school students. Athletes that put their body through the differing movement patterns found in baseball, basketball, football, track & field, and tennis, etc. will greatly enhance their ability to adapt to many different environments, on any given field.
For example, ankle stiffness is something that basketball players consistently work with but in baseball, it is a less common demand. Even though it’s less prevalent in baseball, ankle stiffness is still a skill that should receive purposeful attention. Ankle stiffness is a integral part of hitting a baseball and can be enhanced through playing basketball.
In athletics, many sports tie together, interconnected in such a way that will assist any athlete reach their end goal of playing a college-level sport. Even though most athletes don’t participate in multiple sports in college, it is the multi-sport athletes that will benefit from having done so.
Finally, on average, high school athletes that have participated or trained in multiple sport disciplines have a greater chance of making it to the college or professional level.