Athletes Are More Important Than Academics

Many people argue that athletic programs should not be interfering with academic settings. Others argue that athletics should be more prominent in the academic setting than they already are. The truth is that athletic programs are important to the academic setting if academics is being rightfully prioritized.
An absence of athletics, though often thought of as beneficial to education, could easily produce negative effects, as read in the book Charlotte Sometimes. Charlotte Makepeace went to a boarding school where academics was strictly the one and only focus. This meant that there was no bodily exercise involved in the students’ day to day life, which led to very unhealthy students. Eventually, a deadly illness took about, killing many. Although there were many other factors that played into the epidemic, a large one was the lack of any physical activity. Physical activity is vitally important and is necessary in the academic setting.
Now, with that being said, academics does need to be significantly more prominent than athletics is. It’s like doing homework; if all of a student’s time after school is spent relaxing, then no homework will get done and their grade may suffer, whereas if they spend all of their time doing homework and never take a break, they’ll most

likely become stressed out and anxious. The relaxation needs to happen just as much as sports do, they just have to happen in moderation. Sometimes this doesn’t happen though, especially when it’s a competitive college sport. At the moment, many people are arguing that college athletics should become more of a minor league job than a non-profit college sport. This would be obstructing the true purpose of college: to learn. With that being said, college athletes need to discontinue any thoughts toward getting paid and direct their attention and thoughts towards their futures, whatever it may consist of.
In my personal experience, school has come ahead of any athletics. Within my gymnastics season, all practices and competitions come after any schoolwork obligations. This prioritization helps my grades stay where they need to be. If for some reason school hinders my gymnastics progress, it’s okay, because in the long-run education is what will matter most. Whilst I’m pole-vaulting in the spring, I once again make sure that I’m putting majority of my time into my studies, and the extra time into the pole-vaulting. These sports are my education incentives.
This same drive has also has been observed within most sports at Chaska High School, who don’t allow players to participate if their grades are below a certain point. This acts most essentially as motivation for athletes to keep grades satisfactory. Although sports is a huge part of the high school, academics is an even bigger part. Some people aren’t fortunate enough to go to a high school with these kind of rules enforced. Other high schools around the St. Paul, Minnesota area are so engulfed in the sports teams and competitive aspect of it all that the education piece is hardly evident. This not only negatively influences the athletes GPA, but it gives them no motives to learn. Why would they want to succeed in school when they can succeed in athletics instead? On the other hand, if they are encouraged to get ahead in school and have an incentive, then they start subconsciously prioritizing their education along with their athletics, and hopefully even ahead of them.
In the movie The Blind Side, high school football star Michael Orr was a prospective college football player.

The only issue he stumbled upon was the issue concerning his GPA, which had to be at a certain point in order for him to take any football scholarships he had been offered. With brutal perseverance and the inducement football brought, Michael reached his goal GPA and was able to accept a scholarship at the University of Mississippi. None of these opportunities would have been available to him if he hadn’t of put his education first and foremost in his life, which is how it should always be. Athletes are completely capable of undertaking their sports goals after achieving their academic

goals.
Athletics and academics can be interrelated with proper prioritizing. In the end, they justly complement each other and bring various benefits to the table.