Student Athletes Honor Roll

Student Athletes on the Honor Roll

“Maintaining good academic standing is part of the student athlete culture,” according to women’s head soccer coach Jack Hyde, “It’s part of their responsibility...they embrace it,” he said (Stricklen). “I love football and I wouldn’t want to mess it up by not getting good grades in all my classes,” said Narayan, a student athlete (Given and Tribou). However, more and more student athletes are not finding studying and keeping their grades up a priority. Most student athletes dream of one day becoming a professional athlete, but without good grades, they won’t be able to go to a good college to play for. Being an athlete with good grades also benefits them when trying to get scholarships. Becoming a professional

athlete is also very unlikely and a very risky job without an education as a backup plan. Student athletes should be on the honor roll to play in games.
Colleges have standards for grades as well, and just because you're a good athlete doesn't mean you can get into any college you want. Athletics are not enough to get an athletic scholarship either, a student athlete would also need to have certain grades. But for students athletes that have good grades, they have a better chance of getting scholarships. According to the The National Collegiate Athletic Association, “The new minimum GPA goes up from 2.0 to 2.3,” for 2016 and later graduates to be accepted into college (Frank). The standards are going up and they should keep going up to a B average as well. But even with a minimum of a 2.3 GPA most college scouts won’t consider those athletes as a person to give a scholarship to. If colleges are holding higher requirements for grades to be higher, athletes should be held up to a higher standard for grades. According to Athnet, “Coaches do not look for students who possess athletic abilities only... Students who demonstrate high ethics and abilities in both athletics and academics are more apt to receive athletic scholarships” (Academic Scholarships for Athletes). Colleges do not only look for star athletes, they want well-rounded athletes who can study hard. College scouts want to know that the student would work hard. With a minimum GPA, scouts would be likely to assume that the student would slack off and not take their studies seriously. The better grades an athlete has, the more likely they are to get an athletic scholarship.
The majority of student athletes want to be professional athletes when they grow up, which is very unlikely and not a stable career.

The chances of becoming a professional athlete are very low, and the chances of getting injuries are high. Being an athlete could lead to you being unemployed. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, “Of the nearly 8 million students currently participating in high school athletics in the United States, only 480,000 of them will compete at NCAA schools” (Probability of competing beyond high school). Even though there are many student athletes, the number of spots for college sports is a lot less. This shows that you cannot rely on just your athletic skills because only a few athletes will make it, and become a college athlete. NCAA also found that of all the NCAA college football athletes only 1.6% become professional athletes (Estimated probability of competing in professional athletics). Even with the tiny chances of becoming a professional athlete, somehow you become a professional athlete, the chances of becoming injured are very high. The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated, “professional athletes were among five occupations that had more than 1,000 injuries per 10,000 workers. Athletes and sports competitors suffer more than 2,000 injuries per 10,000 workers” (Fitzgerald). This shows that after becoming one of the 480,000 NCAA college athletes and becoming some of the few professional athletes you still have a big chance of getting an injury that could end your career. Becoming a professional athlete is a very risky job that most student athletes might not even

get.
People might argue that student athletes may feel overwhelmed with academics and athletics and managing the two is too much to handle. This does not consider that, student athletes who really do love sports are willing to put in the time and effort to study. Fleming states, “The statistics for this research were from a suburban school district’s 2015 graduating class of 393 students. The results showed that student athletes (3.28) have a significantly higher GPA in comparison to non-student athletes (2.98)” (Fleming). This study showed that student athletes are capable of getting good grades and that if being on the honor roll is required to participate in games most student athletes did get in the honor roll. People are underestimating student athletes by setting low standards for their grades. Not only did the average GPA for student athletes in that study meet the standards for the honor roll, but the athletes had a significantly better GPA than non-student athletes. By making it required to be on the honor roll for athletes to play in games, athletes were more motivated to study and get good grades.
Schools should require student athletes to be on the honor roll to play in games. Grades are very important for athletes who want to get into a college to play for and to get scholarships. Trying to become a professional athlete is very risky without an educational foundation to rely on. You would have a big chance of becoming unemployed. Student athletes are also more capable than people give them credit for. All schools should make it required for student athletes to be on the honor roll, to benefit them in the future.