The Tie Between Sports and Education

By Ojay Nammychai

I was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so growing up I was a huge Packers fan. I was also a huge NBA fan and my favorite team was the Chicago Bulls. I loved watching

Derrick Rose from his days in Memphis and seeing him get drafted first overall to the

Chicago Bulls. Despite losing to Mario Chalmers in the Final four, Derrick inspired me to work hard and that is what my South Middle School (Lawrence, Kansas) seventh grade football coach told me. Coach Stewart, the workout coach, pushed me to be the best and even told me that I am going to grow up to be the best football player, and that really inspired me.

Coach Beavers was my eighth grade football coach and he was just a great coach to be around. He was a very strict person who always knew what my teammates and I had to do. Before our second 8th grade football game, I had some bad grades, and so I couldn’t play the next game until I got those grades up. Coach Beavers told me about improving my grades so that I was eligible to play. That is another thing about

Coach Beavers, he was not only an inspiring coach, but he still cared about the team’s grades going through the season.

Coach Merz, our assistant coach, was the other 8th grade football coach and was the one who just wanted the job done and that is what most of us did and that really made him proud. At other times, Coach Merz would get mad when you don’t know what you're doing. He scolded us for not listening and that just changed me to be a better person in school first, and then on the football field. Every night I grabbed the playbook and studied it and that made me better and better and that was all coaches needed, plus good grades.

Jordan Italiano, a football player from Kent State University, has a GPA of 3.98 and he was named smartest college student/athlete. Jordan is guaranteed $18,000 for continuing his education in college, and another $7,000 if he can become number one on the field. Many student athletes struggle because when they play a sport they are usually good on the field or in school, but Jordan is both a really good football player and a person who exceeds in education.

Another example of an outstanding student athlete is , an NBA player out of UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) who averaged over 30 points per game and become an All-Star MVP (Most Valuable Player). Along with his 3.9 GPA,

Russell Westbrook was another player who can do it all. Russell really wanted to go to

Stanford University to play ball, but Stanford did not accept him. I think of Russell as the

Jordan Italiano in college and like LeBron James on the NBA court, just an all-around person who motivated me.

I tried out for the SMS Cougar 8th grade team and I was unfortunately cut from the team. I really think that Coach Thornburg is a calm person to be around. He is a nice man in school and is just very helpful. I overhear a lot of the basketball players saying bad things about their coaches, but to me, all of them would’ve been the coolest to be around. I can see that not participating this season in basketball has impacted my grades. It actually improved my grades slightly every month.

I don't really know much about hockey, but I know how grades affect future athletes. Alex Killorn was 15 years old when he got drafted to the NHL, and he finished Harvard University with a 3.5 GPA. Alex was the first graduate out of Harvard to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Finals. Harvard does not give out scholarships for athletics. If

Alex went to any other college, he would definitely have gotten a scholarship because of his ability in school and in the rink. However, It was still Alex’s decision to attend

Harvard University. (TheSportster, 2015).

During the football season, I started getting bad grades, but my grades were improving after every practice, because everyday when I am with this team and coaching staff, I learn how to be responsible and take charge of the things that are in the way. I cared more about my classes and doing well in class. I also started that way when I began middle school. I started off talking to only some of my cousins and getting horrible grades but as soon as I started getting into football, my grades just improved.

My dad was a big fan of the MLS (Major league since he was a kid and played soccer for the longest period of time in a Hmong league. He was a goalkeeper, and that was the only position I knew in soccer. That legacy went on to my little brother. My brother says he will grow up to be a soccer player, but coming from a family like mine, my brothers practice basketball and football with him.

Kids’ success in school has changed joining a sport to have a coach to push them. At least one family member will most likely become an athlete. The satisfaction from these families rises when watching the family member play. Youth sports changes the lives of adults and youth athletes. This changes adults because how the athletes behave playing sports, it just makes them happy that the youth athlete is having fun.

The education has changed especially from the youth level. These athletes are improving and learning more discipline from the coaches and staff. More students are less likely to drop out if playing with a team that cares for each other. They are just as supportive as the coaches. Each person pushes each other to become great and be known at a pro level.

For me ,the thing I mostly focus on is school because my parents really believe I can make it to college. I strived to be great in school. I have two brothers and one sister in college right now, and one sister who has finished college. Someday I'll be able to go to college and graduate. After graduating college, I want to be in the NFL or NBA.

At times education can ruin your sports life. The wrong turns you make are the ones that are not going to help athletes. Throughout my sports history, I have learned so many things in school. My coaches taught me discipline and respect. I also learned that from my brother, who is a man who pushes me to be great.

My goals as an adult are to be in the NFL or NBA and buy my parents a house.

That would make me happy knowing my parents can trust me and count on me. I also hope to get paid as pro professional athletes do, which is around $1 million a game.

Hopefully after that I would be able to pay for my siblings’ education.

I know that graduating with a 4.0 GPA is near to impossible, but I need to attempt that. My brother is in college and he says that class is never easy. When you don't turn in anything, teachers never try to make you redo a class paper, teachers just record your grade and make that final. I will think hard through all of that and start learning from that now, so that I can be a better student from this day forward.

Education for other people is different than mine. Most athletes just want to go to the NFL, but they all just think it is that easy. In 5th grade I remember meeting Veryl

Switzer, which is a Hall of Fame running back for the Green Bay Packers. Veryl was just a fun person to be around. That man brings back memories of what he told me. Veryl believed I can make it to the NFL, and told me “education first”. That really made me what I am today, and I will stay this way.

In elementary, I was a kid who just tried to fit in. Anytime I had a chance to play basketball during recess, I would not pass on that. Being able to be involved in athletics is a real honor. I would never pass on that because that just improves me to reach my goal when I finish high school.

About 30% of softball athletes quit that sport because of education. I have only met one person that has dropped out of a sport just because they had late assignments.

He was a 7th grader who is exactly like me, he stayed focused, but when a friend is messing around, he gets off task and does the work later.

In my opinion, sports has a huge impact on education. In athletics, when you get knocked down, you get back up and try again. This also applies to education because when late assignments are turned in, at times you can try again. In a test, I thoroughly revise and that is what I also did during my 8th grade football season. Success isn’t given, it’s earned.

I was talking with my brother who is now in college, and he told me that freshman athletes usually have a hard time focusing because it is hard to double task. High school students take a big step in high school athletics and move on to college but do not get recognized. Either they are becoming better in athletics or education. Athletes are evolving in school.

I read an article about succeeding in college. New York determined that 70% of athletes would not graduate. This means that 15 out of 20 athletes will not graduate college. An athlete's personality is the most important part about their success. They need to be somebody who is willing to work hard and does not give up. Ray Meyers, basketball coach at DePaul University says, “ What’s important is the boy’s attitude, If he’s lazy or has an I-don’t- care attitude, we don’t want him. We want a player that wants to be good. Let’s put it this way: the real difference between a successful athlete and one who does not make it is not the talent or the knowledge of the game alone, but his will to play. What he wants to do with his talent is what matters; it’s not the quantity of practice, but the quality ”.

Student athletes that play a sport and learn about competition and team play, they get used to the places he or she reps. The average GPA of students athletes are around 2.7. During 8th grade football, my GPA was 2.78 and has started rising lately.

But i do not think that is good enough. Most students are getting a 3.7 GPA and don't play a sport so I think that participating in athletics lower grades.

Scientists are saying that students athletes struggle in either athletics or education. Mostly in education because athletics is an energetic activity that can really take your mind off education. My opinion about sports and education is that sports really can affect education and can most likely lower your grades in school.

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