Balancing Sports and Academics
At Tutor Doctor, we love sports! School athletics are not only great for one’s health, but can also give students a serious advantage when applying for colleges. Being involved in student athletics looks great on any college application, and there are numerous scholarships available to students that participate in sports. However, sometimes balancing sports and academics can be difficult! If you are a student that finds it challenging to manage time, here are three simple tips to help stay on track!
- Make a Schedule to Stay Organized.
Keeping a planner or agenda is a great way to manage your time. Teachers provide syllabuses at the beginning of the school year outlining important due dates and exams. In addition, sports practices and games are generally predetermined as well. We recommend comparing your schedules and making an agenda ahead of time in order to plan accordingly. For example, if you know you have basketball practice on Tuesday and Thursday and a biology test on Friday, plan to use Monday and Wednesday evenings to study!
- Remember that sports are meant to AID academic success, not hinder it.
Believe it or not, school athletics are meant to help you excel! In fact, statistically speaking, students that participate in team sports are more likely to have higher grade point averages. In addition, students involved in sports have a more positive attitude towards school and are generally higher achievers. If you find school athletics are hurting your academic progress, it’s important to start planning more effectively. Sports are meant to help your education, not hinder it!
- Remind yourself of the importance of academics.
It is important to remind yourself that your education ultimately should come first. The true purpose of school sports is to help build valuable team-playing and time management skills that compliment your academic success (and your college applications)! Regardless of how skilled a student may be at a given sport, all schools have a minimum GPA requirement. Usually, a student is required to have a C average (minimum 2.0 GPA) to even be eligible for school athletics.
Although we’ve all heard the incredible stories about talented high school athletes being drafted into college or pro teams, the fact is this rarely happens. According to the NCAA, only 7% of students that play sports in high school will move on to NCAA athletics. Considering these competitive figures, a student that has succeeded in school sports in addition to having good grades will undoubtedly appear more impressive on any college application.
Moving on to the Pro’s has even worse odds. According to the NCAA:
Basketball: You have a .03% chance of becoming a pro as a men's senior-level high school player. For women, it's .02%.
Football: You have a .08% chance of becoming a pro as a men's senior-level high school player.
Baseball: There is more opportunity at .4%. This includes the minor leagues (Rookie, Short-Season A, A-, A, A+, AA and AAA). The numbers are far worse if you're talking about the major leagues.
School athletics are a great way to build valuable time management and social skills that students can apply for the rest of their professional lives. However, it can be difficult to balance sports with academics. School spirit is a great thing, and we know how passionate many students are about sports! Just remember – sports are meant to be an addendum to your education, and academics should always take priority.
Tutor Doctor has developed a great program to help students with their executive functions and time management skills. While it does take commitment, when used correctly and consistently, students can find that happy balance between academics and sports. If you need help planning your schedule, don’t hesitate to contact us!