Sports as an academic major at Northern Virginia Community College - Essay Example

However, few parents are aware of these positive effects of physical activity to their children because they view it as a form of play that wastes their children’s time. For this reason, some colleges do not allow students to take sports as an academic major; hence, most students who are highly interested in sports end up majoring in something that does not interest them. The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of sports and why students should be allowed to major in sports.

According to Duderstadt (302), studies have shown that students who are actively involved in sports are more likely to be academically unprepared than those who are not active in sports. For this reason, they are likely to achieve lower grades than their peers, in college. However, other studies have shown that the school performance of students involved in intercollegiate sports is not influenced by sports. This is because such sports promote self-understanding and motivates students to succeed academically.

Therefore, it is essential for schools to allow students to major in sports as they can help them academically. Teachers, parents and trainers, fear that students participating in intercollegiate athletics may lead to social isolation of students (Duderstadt 304). . This is because athletes compete with other athletes from different racial, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. These activities provide a place for students to unite and discuss different ideas and issues and how they can achieve common goals.

With time, students begin to feel comfortable with one another and their learning and development improves. Additionally, students frequently interact with their fellow students who have similar interests; hence, providing social integration in to the college environment (Kissinger, Daniel and Miller 126). Thus, allowing students to major in sports may promote social relations among both athlete and non-athlete students. Moreover, students who engage in intercollegiate athletics acquire time management skills, which enable them balance their time between extracurricular activities and academics.

A study done by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III on basketball players at a liberal arts college showed that athletes were majorly involved in their academics despite their participation in sports. Therefore, allowing students to major in sports would not affect their academic performance because students know how to manage their time. According to Duderstadt (304), students involved in sports exhibit self-reported gains especially in the areas of personal life as well as social development as well as in general education than those who dot participate actively in sports.

NCAA argues that educational institutions need to provide an environment, which both students that are active in sports and those that are inactive should be able to gain social and personal developments and not education only. Allowing sports