Sports, High School

The Contemporary Scene

Sports have become an increasingly large part of the high school experience. In the 2002 to 2003 school year, more than 40% of all high school students participated in at least one high school sport (National Federation of State High School Associations, 2003). Boys still outnumber girls on the playing fields and on the courts, but girls have made great strides in the last 30 years toward evening those numbers. In the early 1970s, only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports. Today, more than 1 in 3 girls plays high school sports (Hueben, 2003). This growth is attributable in part to passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which provides that no person should be excluded on the basis of sex from participating in, or suffer discrimination under, any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. The most popular high school sports for boys in 2002 were football, basketball, track and field, baseball, and soccer, in that order. For girls, the most popular sports, in descending order, were basketball, track and field, volleyball, softball, and soccer (National Federation of State High School Associations, 2003).

Advantages of Playing Sports

High school sports can play a very large part in both the student's life and the life of the community. For the student, sports teaches lessons that may not easily be learned elsewhere and connects students to their schools and the larger community. Often, the entire student body rallies behind a team before a big game, and the home team can be a focal point for the local community, as well.

At its best, playing sports in high school can have many advantages for athletes, physically, academically, socially, and in the development of self. First, it helps students maintain physical fitness. Teenagers today are more sedentary and, consequently, weigh more than their counterparts 20 years ago (Steinberg & Levine, 1997). Playing a sport provides students with the opportunity to exercise and stay in shape. Participation in sports has also been shown to be correlated with better academic performance in school (National Federation of State High School Associations, 2003; Poinsett, 1996). Athletes tend to be more organized during the season of the sport that they play and more disciplined about studies. According to a study by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, athletes often do better in school than nonathletes in a number of different areas (National Federation of State High School Associations, 2003). The grade point average for athletes in that study was almost a full point higher than for nonathletes. Graduation rates were also higher for athletes, at almost 100%, while the graduation rate for nonathletes was about 5% lower. Moreover, the average athlete missed about 612 days at school, while nonathletes missed almost twice as many. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports reported similar findings regarding sports and academic performance in a 1997 report, Physical Activity and Sport in the Lives of Girls: Physical and Mental Health Dimensions From an Interdisciplinary Approach. While there is a relation between sports and academic achievement, it cannot be concluded that participation in the former causes the latter. It is possible that smarter, more committed students choose to play sports in the first place.

...