One of the oldest traditions associated with higher education is the integration of athletics with the education system. Most of the higher education institutions have eventually formed intercollegiate athletic programs. Extra-curricular activities have the nature of being too involving, especially with tight travel schedules. It makes it difficult for the student-athletes to make effective use of the library resources. This fact has consequently led to the question as to whether there is need for the student-athletes to maintain a certain grade point for them to participate in college sports (King, 39). The United States administration is currently undertaking education reforms towards raising the standards of the higher institutions.
The new reforms require that a student-athlete must meet a satisfactory academic progress towards the standards set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In my opinion, the student-athletes should lead by example by maintaining certain grade points for them to participate in college sports. Also, study conducted by North Carolina Athletic Association indicated that the grade point average for the athletes was 2.98 while that of the non-athlete students was a low of 2.17. This is a clear indication that the education is significant to the athletic programs.
It should be noted that sports is not limited to the fieldwork. For an institution or an individual to be successful in sports, use of library and the internet resources will have to be incorporated into the system. This definitely requires some skills thus training must come in hand. Failure to maintain certain grade point average (GPA) by the student-athletes will limit their level of accessibility to the sports information which is often present over the web.
Class work should go hand in hand with the physical education (John, 69). Being a professional athlete is a dream that most of the students have but it is not always guaranteed to anyone. Having a good education foundation ensures that the student-athletes do not loose the sole reason as to why they are in the sports profession.
Also, there is the issue of scholarship which is normally granted to the student-athletes. In my perspective, the scholarship is a form of compensation in exchange of maintaining a good GPA. Thus, it is logical for one to excel in the academic work in order to be granted the scholarship. Minimum GPA also ensures that the students grade point average is improved because any student who aspires to be a professional athlete will work hard towards attaining the academic requirement which will in turn boost his or her academic performance.
College athletics is often rocked by conflict which normally arises when two competing teams feel dissatisfied with how the sporting activities were supervised. In such situations students who have met the minimum GPA requirement will not in anyway engage in the confrontation. Rather, they will come up with procedures on how best to address their source of dissatisfaction. The reasoning capacity of a student-athlete who has met the minimum GPA varies greatly from that of a person who has not attained the GPA (Kerr, 16). The minimum GPA is also a way of minimizing the rate of dropping out of school. This is so because as long as a student meets the minimum GPA he or she has the right to be involved in the learning institution and to participate in the sporting activities.
Counter argument
A counter argument against the GPA in athletic programs is that it sets unequal standards of learning in the school system. The demand to attain the good grades and at the same time deliver great performance in the fieldwork is too much for the youngsters. The programs are not student friendly because they put too much burden on them. This has prompted many athletic directors to engage in talks that would see a drop in the minimum academic requirement for the student-athletes (Miller, Wiggins, 53).
Excessive demand on these youngsters prompts them to use enhancing drugs which can boost their memory and their physical condition thus the GPA has the negative impacts on the students. I am also of the opinion that the GPA requirement will play a negative role towards nurturing the talent of different individuals. This is so because one may not be talented in the two fields (fieldwork and class work). By simply declaring himher not eligible to join the college based on the academic performance will just hinder the student from realizing hisher potential.
Others argue that good grades and concentration in class work is a factor of the amount of time that you spend while exercising. They argue that exercise leads to the development and co-ordination of both physical and motor skills. Another study involving students like Alicia Bogacz of Dracut and Amy Silveiora of Billrica registered a perfect 4.0 grade point during the 2001 fall semester. These student-athletes were among the 20 students who were honored by the University of Massachusetts on the National Student Athlete Day. This was after they had engaged in various sporting activities (Kerr, 67). It also promotes the physical memory. A release by the Pennsylvania State University indicted that an estimate of 370 student-athletes earned a grade of 3.0 or higher during the 2008 spring summer semester. This was 55 of the 677 students who were members of the Penn States varsity sport last summer.
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