Student Athlete

“Student” Athlete!
Participation in college athletics is a fun and enriching experience for many students. In fact, thousands of student athletes participate in athletic games each year, and thousands receive scholarships to do so. However, the life of an athlete in college is not as great as it seems. Most coaches emphasize on the “student” part of student athlete; however, they make it very complicated to actually commit to being a student. With a the massive amounts of time put into your sport, its often impossible to perform adequately as a student. I believe that student-athletes should be given extra time to do their homework. If professors were to give student athletes an extra time on all their assignments, it would make it a lot easier for student athletes to graduate from college. It would also allow the student athlete to perform better at their sport because they wouldn’t be so stressed out with all the work that comes with being a college student.
The whole reason for college is to get a better education. Student athletes must learn to manage their time so they can succeed in college, so they can get a good job, and live a successful life. Academic success is critical for student-athletes. According to a study done by the NCAA, student-athletes graduate at significantly lower rates than average university students.
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Very few student-athletes go onto professional sports careers. Students who drop out of college lose valuable skills for their adult lives, and more than likely makes less money than college graduates. Not every college athlete has considered a life outside of sports, as statistics show that graduation rates among certain athletes are shockingly low. Think Progress reported that out of the 65 teams that played in March Madness 2005, 43 of them would not have qualified if there was a 50% graduation rate requirement. Meaning, a large number of the players participating in March Madness will not actually graduate.<http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/03/15/ncaa-should-bar-low-graduation-rate-schools-from-march-madness>.
All student athletes have to abide by the rules set up by the NCAA. This organization sets limits on the number of hours teams can make players practice to ensure that their schoolwork does not suffer too much. Student athletes must register for courses that don’t meet during practice time. The NCAA also has a specific grade point average that athletes must obtain in order to stay eligible to play. When you start juggling just your classes and practice time, you have not even begun to think about the time you need complete your schoolwork.
The biggest and most difficult Factor to being a student athlete at a college level is time management. Coaches too often mistake the student athlete as simply just an athlete. The same NCAA study reported that often, coaches do not follow the 20-hour per week limit on practice time set by NCAA law. I know as a colligate athlete my coach always goes over the set practice time, this adds almost at least five extra hours a week of soccer practice. More time in practice means less time in class and fewer opportunities to study. With less time to study it is more likely that the student will fail or do poorly in class. With games, practices, travel, film sessions, weight training, and injury treatments, it’s a challenge to fit in doing a three-page paper or a math review. They say its student before athlete, however coaches don’t realize they don’t give their athletes enough time off. While the average student has his or her weekends free, college athletes, because of games, practices, travel, etc. have no such freedom. The weekend of an athletes starts off with two to three hours of practice. After many athletes have to hit the weight room or do extra training. Next they sit and watch film, then more than likely discuss this. That takes about two more hours. After that the athletes go to the training room for injury and recovery treatments. Lastly athletes must eat good meal after practice to replenish energy to the depleted body. By that time dinner is done, which is usually around 8:00 PM, it 's time to hit the books. We have study hall twice a week, however on other days girls so their work in the library, or in the privacy of a dorm room or houses. Needless to say, by the time you sit to study you 're over-exhausted. Even staying awake is a worthy challenge. Concentrating on schoolwork, in my experience, next to impossible. Stress is a huge factor when it comes being a student athlete. With scheduling, academic, and physical pressure, student athletes often report more stress than non-athletes. Student life can be stressful enough, but having lots of responsibilities due to school work, not getting enough time for sleep, and having demanding extracurricular activities can add to the stress. This puts a toll on the physical and mental aspects of a student athlete’s life.
If athletes were given the opportunity to have extra time on all their assignments, not only would their grades be better, it would lower or eliminate the stress level of student athletes completely.
On the other side of the Argument, coaches and professors may agree that, students come to college to get an education, before playing sport. Their mindset is that you chose to be an athlete so you need to manage your time wisely. Others may argue that being a colligate athlete keeps you out of trouble. Without any extra free time its harder for student athletes to go out and drink, and party. I think any coach would rather have there player staying up late studying than staying up late because they were at a bar drinking.
From professors stand point; they have several reasons to disagree with giving student athletes extra time. First off professors would not find it fair to give the athletes extra time and not the other students. Many students would argue with the teacher saying it was unfair. I also think that if athletes did get extra time they make take advantage of it, and not do their work in general. It would also make the professor’s job more difficult. With all the different athletes in all the different sports it would be hard for the professors to keep track of the different due dates for the assignments. Grading papers would also be difficult for the professors because they would have all kinds of work coming in at different times, making it hard for them to keep track of grades.
Most coaches want their players to succeed therefore many coaches do give there players time for study hall, and study groups. At times it seems almost impossible for students athletes to pass college with all these extra obstacles being thrown at them. If students athletes had extra time to complete assignments, study, and actually put a decent amount of effort into their work, I believe more students athletes would graduate, with a higher GPA’s. Student athletes will also have more success in finding a job after college if they pass all their classes with higher grades. Overall all this success in the classroom will pay off in the real world, making an all around better life for the student athlete in the future.
Works Cited
Duncan, Arne. "NCAA Should Bar Low Graduation Rate Schools From March Madness - US News and World Report." US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. 15 Mar. 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/03/15/ncaa-should-bar-low-graduation-rate-schools-from-march-madness>.
"Graduation Rates." NCAA Public Home Page - NCAA.org. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ncaa.org>.
NCAA Public Home Page - NCAA.org. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ncaa.org>.

Cited: Duncan, Arne. "NCAA Should Bar Low Graduation Rate Schools From March Madness - US News and World Report." US News &amp; World Report | News &amp; Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. 15 Mar. 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. &lt;http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/03/15/ncaa-should-bar-low-graduation-rate-schools-from-march-madness&gt;. "Graduation Rates." NCAA Public Home Page - NCAA.org. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. &lt;http://www.ncaa.org&gt;. NCAA Public Home Page - NCAA.org. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. &lt;http://www.ncaa.org&gt;.