Last week I focused on some of the benefits of college athletics so this week I thought I’d touch on the negative aspects. In my last post, I wrote about the postive effects for students, the university, and the public; today, I will just look at the student athletes and the university.
The people who are affected in more negative ways than anyone else are the student athletes. Participating in college athletics can have long lasting consequences on the mental health and bodies of former athletes. According to a study that Zachary Kerr did, “Of the 797 former collegiate athletes who participated in the study, a majority reported that they now suffer from some degree of high cholesterol, anxiety and depression issues. They also reported some behavioral conditions, like alcohol dependence and uncontrolled eating, which has led to obesity. Without a coach or trainer telling them when, where and how much to work out, most did not have the self-motivation to work out on their own” (Gaines). Student athletes sport’s schedules are so planned out for them that when nobody is doing that anymore, they often don’t know how to make a plan and follow through with it. The result is devastating effects on both their mental and physical healthiness. Sports also raise the challenge of doing well in academic studies. Studies show that student athletes generally have lower GPA’s than non-athletic students.
Universities have negative consequences as a result of their athletic programs as well. Sports related scandals are a cause of negative effects on universities admissions. According to marketwatch, “Colleges that are the subject of a negative long-form news article typically see a 10% decline in applications the following year — the equivalent of dropping 10 spots in the U.S. News and World college rankings” (Berman). That percentage is quite a large decrease, especially if one is looking at the bigger schools. As the quote says, it also lowers their ranking which could lead to more negative results. In an article by The New York Times, Pennington states that, “The college admissions fraud scandal, which cast a spotlight on coaches accused of selling slots reserved for recruited athletes, has caused scores of institutions, some quietly and some publicly, to introduce stricter regulations to their athletic recruitment procedures” (Pennington). This is just one example of a scandal that led to many universities altering something because of athletic programs and the mistakes that ensue.
College athletics programs are life changing to some and benefit them in more ways than they could say, but others have more negative consequences for playing the sports they love and sometimes, that makes it not worth it. Universities benefit and are hindered in certain ways by their athletic programs, but whether the costs are worth the benefits or not is up to each individual college.
Sources:
https://www.deviantart.com/flashtrigger/art/Word-Art-of-the-Week-5-SCANDAL-373854219
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/sports/college-recruiting-scandal.html
https://www.theclassroom.com/academics-college-athletes-vs-nonathletes-16678.html
I have friends that are student athletes and I see the negative side effects that it has on them. They barely get to sleep, and seems as though their entire life is dictated by coaches, even though many of them will never surpass the college level of their sport. I think it is important to acknowledge the shortcomings of college athletics just as much as we acknowledge the good in it.
I really liked how you talked about the mental health effects faced by athletes, I had never really thought about that. I also think it was smart of you to tie in the admissions scandal, as it was so monumental and unheard of and really put college athletics in the hot seat. Great post!
I really liked this discussion and how it provide the ‘other side of the story’ of your last post. This topic is very personal to me because I was a very intense swimmer throughout high school, practicing upwards of 25 hours a week. I never needed to workout on my own, because I had mandatory practices that worked me plenty. However, in college, I was not swimming. This was really nice at first, because it provided me with a long break from an extremely demanding and exhausting sport, and I enjoyed the rest very much. But, I also knew that I still needed to workout. It was so difficult, though, because it is hard to voluntarily push yourself to your breaking points without someone else doing it for you. Most athletes become so ‘burnt out’ from working out in general by the time they are done their college sport that they never want to do it ever again, and this is where the problem lies. This post does a really good job of touching on some of the deleterious aspects of sports, and that it isn’t all easy and fun like everyone thinks it is. Great Job!