It is a precious tradition and contributes to the competitiveness of many American universities, and to the excitement of the school, the community, and a lot of fans. Besides the excitement of college football, it seems in a lot of cases one of the most controversial topics of this national pastime is the effect of academic success. How does it feel to be a student-athlete, who will divide his already busy schedule into sports and studying at the same time? Does playing football help or hurt academic success? College football is a challenging issue. There are plenty of opinions and factors that could impact your view. For students struggling to manage their workload, services like Do My Papers can be a game-changer. Do My Paper offers academic support for students, helping them complete assignments efficiently and maintain a balanced schedule, especially beneficial for student-athletes.
We will take a look into how college football affects academic performance, and discuss the pros and cons of being a student-athlete.
Time Management Challenges
The schedules of the players of collegiate football can be quite strenuous. College football teams have daily practice sessions, games, team meetings, and sometimes travelling to play games. Working-out and attending practice sessions for three hours a day can be quite tiring. These may leave little time for studying, attending lectures, or even writing assignments. For students who have poor time management skills, juggling all these responsibilities can become very demanding.
My personal view is that student-athletes must develop their abilities to prioritise responsibility. Students will not reach their highest potential in sports and their studies, if they fail to plan. There will be days when athletes will not be on their game and still must show up to train. As brilliant athletes, and young young scholars, the need for management of time is essential to their support system. Many athletes use tutors and academic advisors to help them sort out the many demands of the day. Without proper planning school work can slip away.
Academic Support Systems
Academic support services, designed especially for athletes, are also available at most colleges and universities in the United States. These can include tutoring, study halls, and one-on-one mentoring to help student-athletes stay on track and not fall behind in their studies. For additional assistance, students may also turn to reliable essay services to help manage demanding academic requirements.
Athletes may be forced to attend study halls, which provide them with a dedicated block of time and space to work on schoolwork. Coaches often hire tutors to provide additional educational assistance, and these tutors often have close relationships with the athletic program, betting that the student-athletes will stick around once they figure out the academic side of things. Having these resources in place makes it easier to be a student-athlete. It makes it easier to miss class the day after a game, because the coaches will work with you to make up the work. It makes it easier to pay attention in class, because you know you are working towards a goal. It makes it easier to stay focused for four hours every Saturday, because you are training your body as hard as it trains itself.
- Other research shows that colleges with robust academic support systems for athletes tend to have the highest academic success rates for football players. Football players who engaged in academic support programmes had a 12 per cent higher graduation rate than those who didn’t, according to an NCAA study in 2017.
The Role of Motivation and Discipline
It can help them get the most out of their college experience by earning good grades if they are sufficiently driven and self-disciplined. Playing football requires a particular mental toughness, resilience and focus, and those are the same traits that could enable athletes to succeed as students. The type of drive that makes a football player set and achieve goals on the field can also help the player succeed in the classroom.
But the opposite can be true as well. Football players who do not prioritise their academics or are not as disciplined can see a decline in their academics. Studies have shown that if student-athletes spend too much time training and being involved in football and not in academics, they will face a drop in their GPA during football season and at times throughout their collegiate career.
The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) reports that football players’ GPA dropped by an average of 0.20 points during the competitive season compared with off-season.
Comparing Academic Performance: Athletes vs. Non-Athletes
It is useful to compare the academic performance of athletes with that of non-athletes to demonstrate what happens to the studies of participants and non-participants in sports. The fact is that football players and non-athlete students are in different academic environments, and their grades are often a reflection of that.
| Category | Average GPA (Football Players) | Average GPA (Non-Athletes) |
| During Football Season | 2.75 | 3.10 |
| Off-Season (Football) | 2.95 | 3.15 |
| Graduation Rate | 68% | 76% |
Overall, the table reveals that football student-athletes tend to have lower GPAs than their non-athlete counterparts, and the differences become more clear during the season.
The Impact of Travel and Game Schedules
The travel and game schedules pose other problems for college football players. Missing classes in order to get to away games disrupts their academic routine. Longer travel means they might have less time to complete the work assigned or to study. This can add stress to an already difficult situation as players try to catch up with the work they missed.
Some institutions have provisions for athletes. In these universities, a student can take an online class, pre-recorded lectures or can have a deadline extension to catch up with their work. However, not all universities offer these facilities. Thus, athletes struggle with their academics, since they are usually travelling and unable to follow a regular schedule. If there is no proper planning in place, the student might fall behind on classes and have poor understanding of the subject due to a lack of attendance.
Pressure and Mental Health
Numerous student-athletes suffer from mental health for this reason. The enormous pressure to win and to also excel in academics will bring about anxiety, stress and burnout, which in turn will bring about a negative impact on the athlete’s academic performance. The more a player feels overpressure, the more he/she will experience lack of concentration and the inability to play well due to the emotional strain.
There are now more opportunities for mental health services one-on-one counselling; workshops on stress management; more targeted messaging and mental health awareness events. If schools take these steps, thayer athletic environments will.
The Benefits of Being a Student-Athlete
Despite the above mentioned difficulties, football has many advantages for playing it. One of the benefits of playing football is that it will help you become a better student. To play football, you need skills that can be used in real life such as teamwork, leadership, organising your time and discipline. Skills that can help you become a better student. Skills that can help you become organised to finish your work on time.
The support offered to student-athletes – ranging from teammates and coaches to academic advisors – can help to keep them motivated. The structure created by the demands of being an athlete can also encourage more positive routines and help develop the discipline these young people need to succeed academically.
Conclusion
The relation between College Football and studying is a complicated because, playing football for some students, can lead to bad habits such as poor time management skills, travelling a lot and extra pressure, and most of the time, football helps the student athlete to develop the basics and the foundation to become a better player and also an outstanding student. Having a proper academic support system, motivation and discipline helps the student athlete not only to become a better player, but also to graduate.
By accounting for all of these variables, universities can devise a schedule for their student-athletes that supports both athletic superiority and academic achievement.
