Growing up playing sports, I noticed a trend. After taking my junior year off from football, my grades dropped significantly. When I rejoined the team senior year, my grades rose back up to where they were. I always thought it was odd, especially since football was such a big time commitment. After researching this topic, I’ve found that maybe I’m not alone.

Professors from The University of South Carolina and Penn State University did an observational study on 9,700 high school students (age 14-18). They studied the link between GPA and various different extracurricular activities. The extracurricular that had the most consistent and significant data showing a correlation between that and higher GPA was team sports. A similar Michigan State University study showed that high school athletes did roughly 10% better in core subjects than non-athletes.

Since these are observational studies, they are very susceptible to third variables. For example, most schools have GPA requirements for athletes. As a result, the athletes could be feeling more pressure to do better in school. Athletes also could be getting better treatment from teachers, especially in schools where sports play a huge role. It is very common for athletes to receive extra help from teachers, coaches and other players with their schoolwork. Since these are observational studies, we have to think about the possibility of chance. I think it is safe to say, however, that the sample size is large enough to rule out chance as a viable option for the results. I think applying this data to all demographics will get similar, but less significant results. For example, wealthy kids in urban prep schools tend to be very involved in the arts and could surpass the athletes in academics. In a rural area of South Dakota or a poor area of major city, sports could teach students about determination and work ethic, resulting in better grades. I believe that this data is credible, not necessarily in saying that athletes far surpass non-athletes in academics, but that team sports help kids with their schoolwork.

It’s hard to know exactly what about team sports leads to a higher GPA. There are several possible mechanisms for this. Some may argue that sports take time away from studies and cause students to do worse in school. To counter, sports teach kids good time management skills. Team sports give students more structure in their lives, which we can assume helps their study habits by leaving less time to procrastinate. There is no data to support this, but the only foreseeable way to test this is through a survey, which leaves the possibility for false negatives and positives. There is also a possibility that perhaps athletes are predetermined to think differently and have more drive and determination. This would make sense because of the competitive nature of athletes. An observational study published in the American College of Sports Medicine showed that athletes were significantly more focused and were better tactical thinkers when using a simulator for crossing the street in traffic. Their physical fitness played no role in the study as all participants moved at the same speed. They were significantly better at reading patterns and predicting where the cars would come from compared to the non-athletes. This higher ability to read patterns could definitely correlate with a better understanding of subjects like math. A third possibility is the psychological aspect behind team sports. Looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (seen below), people can’t reach their full potential until their “social” needs are met. Being part of a team and working towards a common goal develops friendships and gives students a sense of belonging. As a result, students who are on a sports team could be more likely to reach their full potential not only in school, but also in life as a whole.

The only foreseeable counter argument that sports make students worse in school would have to do with concussions from contact sports. In an observational study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers looked at roughly 350 students who had received concussions. Many reported a harder time concentrating in school after the concussion. This was more likely for students who had not completely recovered from their concussion and even more so for those who have received multiple concussions. It is possible, however, that they over-exaggerated their symptoms for the case of the study. They could have even under-exaggerated their symptoms. It’s hard to know, but it does make sense that multiple concussions can cause brain damage. In that case, sports could be worse for kids academically. As long as the correct precautions are taken regarding concussions, this variable should not affect the entire argument presented before.

Although we can’t prove that team sports lead to a higher GPA, the evidence combined with possible mechanisms is very convincing. It is widely known that team sports help kids with social skills and overall health, but now we can see that it could have promising cognitive effects.