High school extracurricular activities are an essential part of the American educational system. As a key part of the program of American institutions, those activities instill a sense of pride at school and in the community. At the same time, they teach students lifelong lessons alongside the fundamental lessons or curriculum taught in classroom. One of the most significant and rewarding interscholastic or extracurricular activities in US high school is sport.
Playing sports, in addition to contributing to healthier and longer lives, help high school students get more involved in an activity that delivers a large scope of non-physical benefits. Student athletes appear more likely to be more interactive, manifest stronger peer relationships and develop more self-esteem. Indeed, through engaging in physical activity, they develop a great sense of initiative, persistence and responsibility and tend to avoid any risky behaviors. According to a survey of over 14,000 teens from At Your Own Risk – an organization whose mission is to educate, provide resources and equip the public to act and advocate for safety in work, life, and sport – it is found that those who participated in team sports were less likely to consume drugs, smoke cigarettes and carry weapons. Another survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also confirms that students who participate in high school sports are less likely to engage in activities that could have a negative impact on their health. At the same time, they found that sports participation reduces the chance of obesity or type diabetes, which are mostly due to the lack of physical activity.
Participation in sports is beneficial for American students who search for improving their academic results as high school athletics have always been shown to highly enhance students’ grades. In fact, engaging in youth sports opens doors to high school athletes in search of new opportunities. 15 percent of high school athletes are perceived to be more likely to attend college. Sports have always played an important role in the American society. Similarly, they have essentially served as an everyday social scene and interaction within American colleges and universities. By playing for a college team, excellent athlete students from high school have the chance to be awarded a scholarship so as to pursue an undergraduate degree at the university. However, high school athletes who seek to get scholarships should know first how athletic scholarships and university sport programs truly work. Overall, university sports programs are offered at the intercollegiate (organized competition) and the intramural (club-like, less competitive) levels. Many universities offer sports scholarships at the intercollegiate level to students who are both academically qualified and skilled in a particular sport; this proves that the benefit of sports in US high schools is not only limited to regular physical activities to remain mentally and physically healthier, or to improve the student’s concentration and classroom behavior.
In fact, high school sports for American parents have come to be a real opportunity for their children to join in an activity that is most apparently rewarding both academically, socially, and physically. Moreover, it is important to note that many US schools highly promote and support athletics. Therefore, it is absolutely fair to say that sport remains one of the most popular extracurricular activities among other ones, that many parents still choose for their kids.
Sources: atyourownrisk.org/ CDC