On a positive side, while the feeling of belonging is extremely important, especially to the adolescent, tying oneself too closely to one narrow aspect of life can be limiting. It was found that first year high school football players perceived themselves more as identifying as a jock or footballer than those in older grades (Mitchell et al., 2014). This appeared to be due to the fact that the association was newer for them and therefore they were more status obsessed. Similarly, college level athletes displayed increased foreclosure in the first two years at the university than in their last years (Miller & Kerr, 2003). Reason being that young intercollegiate athletes often have big egos with pro-athlete dreams, but as their college experience …show more content…
Anderson and Miller (2011) stated, “90% of youth players that embark on a professional football career fail to ever achieve professional status.” Supporting this notion, Linnemeyer and Brown (2010) assert that, less than 2% of student athletes will ever have a professional sport career no matter what their aspirations, or those of their parents or coaches. This has a strong psychological affect especially when the athlete has been identified from a young age as a football player instead of a person, and when statistically unrealistic goals have been placed upon them. Athletes with identity foreclosure depict highly authoritarian behavior and their thinking is labeled as stereotypical. They also suffer from lower levels of self-directedness, morals, and autonomy (Brewer & Petitpas, 2017). In fact, when an athlete has the goal of a professional career it has been linked to limited educational development and alternative career pursuits. Findings show that student athletes have lower career maturity and experience more identity foreclosure when compare to other general, non-athlete college students (Linnemeyer & Brown, 2010). Collegiate athletes often choose majors that are not necessarily within their areas of interest but rather seek those that are more simple and do not conflict with their sport …show more content…
Studies show that, “athletic identity and identity foreclosure tend to increase from late childhood into adolescence and remain elevated until the prospect of reduced sport involvement are faced” (Brewer & Petitpas, 2017). Research has proven that with this information athletic clubs, coaches, high schools, and colleges should adapt their philosophy and be wise in how they speak to and set up athletes. Athletic staff and parents would be aware and not foreclose upon an athlete, especially a young athlete, and limit their options in other areas of life. Balance is key to living life and finding ones pursuit and path. Both the AIMS and the Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status (OM-EIS) measure levels of exclusivity of an individuals identification with sport roles and lack of exploration of other domains of life that make a well rounded person. Petitpas and France (2011) and Linnemeyer and Brown (2010), were able to prove through several studies using the OM-EIS that athletes consistently report high levels of identity foreclosure compared to results of non-athletes. The media, parents, and coaches are highly responsible for this condition by over emphasizing commitment to improving a single sport skill, making an athlete hesitant to pursue any other activity that may deter
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
Sports play a large part of an athletic student’s life, weighing heavily on one’s identity. In his essay, “Cut”, Bob Greene relays how he and several others are cut from their middle school sports team because “[they weren’t] good enough” (Greene 58). Because of this cut, Greene and his peers end up pushing harder than ever in other areas of their life. He notes, “an inordinately large proportion of successful men share… the memory
When I was accepted into the University of Oklahoma, I was not aware of the tradition or prestige that the football team carried. Moreover, I had no idea about the honor it was to don the crimson and cream in the arena of athletics. And, I never envisioned rooming with them. I enjoyed sports, but I loved reading and writing more. Initially, I was focused on building a collegiate career that one day would propel me to my goal of studying law. Yet, the more time I spent interacting with the athletes, the more parallels I noticed between their personalities and mine. Their diligence, perseverance and compassion were all traits that I could identify with since they were reflective of me. For the most part, the majority of the athletes were hungry to achieve and they desired knowledge at all costs; a combination that still resonates with me today.
According to Sheed, “Schools and colleges also teach something by their very natures, which is that you are now playing for a whole community and not just yourself” (498). Typically, what Sheed is saying is that sports have brought peers, schools, students, and even communities together to share and engage in one thing they love, sports. The people that are not even engaged in the physical aspect of sports are still brought together. They are able to cherish their favorite teams and show pride as their team endures the road to glory.
Throughout the country young men and women are losing their priority for an education. To attend a university should be a highly cherished privilege, and it should be an even greater honor to play athletics for the university. Therefore, the writer supports the decision that the “student” comes before “athlete” in student-athlete. Playing for pay should be considered a job for “professionals”. In the rulebook, the NCAA views college athletes as armatures. This statement sums it up best. When athletes go to college, not all of them go in with the mindset that athletics is going to be their future job....
According to the N.C.A.A.’s own survey in 2011, it showed by a huge percentile that the members of these sport teams do not identify themselves as students first. For example, football and men’s basketball players identify themselves more strongly as athletes than as students, gave more weight in choosing their college to athletics than to academics, and spend more time on athletics than on their studies.
High school sports are approached with clashing opinions. Some of these opinions are positive, and supportive of athletics. “Athleticism, among many activities, offers teens a physical outlet to exert their troubles, anger, emotions, and other feelings” (Chen 1). This can be observed in nearly all of the football players in Friday Night Lights. This can also be noticed in the world today. “Athletics help high school students understand their own abilities and talents” (Chen 1). This piece of evidence is very accurate when describing high school athletes. Sports can make a high school student humble. As can be seen by the preceding information, high school athletics can have a positive impact on a student’s life.
"College Athletic Programs Undermine Academics." Student Life. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 July 2011.
Potuto, Josephine (Jo) R., and James O'Hanlon. "National Study Of Student-Athletes Regarding Their Experiences As College Students." College Student Journal 41.4 (2007): 947-966. Humanities International Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
The college athletes of their respective sports today, have the opportunity of showcasing their talents in competition on local and national programming on a regular basis which has lately brought attention this controversy, paying college athletes. The issue was brought on by the athletes over time, then caught onto coaches, sports columnists, and fans. The athletes dedicate themselves to the sport to a caliber comparable to the professional tier. The idea of paying the athletes could be considered as they play major factor in reputation of their schools, as well as funds for their schools. However most colleges do not have profitable sports teams. Thus, paying athletes would prove to be a very difficult endeavor and this could destroy college athletics as we know them today.
Parents and teachers have preached that getting an education is important since students first entered Kindergarten. Although there is proof that athletes have endured success from both pathways, academics and athletics, it’s the financially safe and most logical choice for a student athlete to solidify his or her future after athletics. Becoming a professional athlete is a high-risk high reward situation but receiving a college education lowers that risk. A college education could potentially increase the knowledge further to enhance their athletic abilities intellectually also (Clary Dec. 13, 2009). Most of the time if the athlete is good enough to go pro it’s likely that they have athletic full–ride scholarships from major college programs. With college expenses the way they are today one might argue that this is a better deal especially if the chance of going pro remains after the athlete graduates from college. After retiring from...
“The Effects of Sport Participation on Student-Athletes’ and Non-Athlete Students’ Social Life and Identity.” Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics. College Sport Research Institute. 2010, 3, 176-193. Cosh, Suzanne. Tully, Phillip.
Colleges demand a well-rounded resume that students are trying to fulfill so they can get accepted to the college or university they desire most. “We know schools and families are embedded in society and are responding to its changing requirements and demands, with respect to the competitiveness to the college admissions process, the kinds of skills needed to succeed in the workforce, and even uncertainties in the global economy” (NYU Study Examines), in a study, students from a big university admit to finding that students are becoming more stressed out because of college pressures while still in high school. Colleges are trying to find the students that can succeed in both academics and extracurricular activities. Once students get into college, student athletes can buy a book written by Carl I. Fertman appropriately titled Student Athlete Success – Meeting the Challenges of College Life, to help organize their priorities with their busy schedule. This is a work book that allows the college athletes relate to other college athletes that feel the same way they do. College has its own set of challenges that high school students usually do not face, so this book would help the students cope with these new challenges. In the first section, there is a heading that is labeled “What Student-Athletes Say” with a list of common quotes from student athletes themselves. For example “Sometimes I feel like student athletes have extra pressure and greater expectations placed on them than other students. Everyone knows who we are and people are looking at us to catch us doing something wrong”. (2), which shows how students that do participate in sports feel as though they have added pressure because they are so well known in most cases. Although they do commit to being more known than a regular student when they join a sports team, it is often not fair to the
For decades there has been a debate on student athletes and their drive to succeed in the classroom. From the very beginning of organized college level athletics, the goal to want to succeed in athletics has forced students to put academics to the back burner. In spite of the goal to want to succeed over a hundred years of attempts to check limits of intercollegiate athletic programs on colleges' academic standards still seems to struggle to this day. This brings to surface one of the most asked questions in sports, “What effect does college sports have on academics and economics?” Herbert D. Simons, Derek Van Rheenen, and Martin V. Covington, authors of “Academic Motivation and the Student Athlete” researched the topic on whether athletics and academics benefit each other. Bryan Flynn, the author of “College Sports vs. Academics” poses the question “Should institutions of higher learning continue to involve themselves in athletic programs that often turn out to be virtual arms races for recruiting talented players who bring big money and prestige, but put academics to the back burner?” Although both authors agree that sports have an impact on an athlete’s academics, the focus of their argument differs.
Absolute monarchs still currently exist in several locations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman. Absolutism is a style of government in which a ruler holds absolute or complete power over the country and its citizens. During the 16th and 17th centuries, absolutism was very popular in Europe. Some people argue that absolutism is a period of prosperity. Others argue that it was a period of tyranny.