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Letters to the Editor
From: XXXXX@virgin.net
I enjoyed reading "Extraversion and Neuroticism in Contact Athletes, No Contact Athletes and Non-athletes: A Research Note" in your most recent issue. Great stuff, however was it considered a possibility that background should have been considered in
relation to abilities etc?
Malcolm
From: athleticinsight@yahoo.com
Dear Malcolm,
You make the interesting comment that the background of our players should have been considered in relation to their abilities. We did use university students who were matched on a number of variables, particularly physical ones, and we compared extraversion and introversion between athletes and non-athletes. Your idea of investigating other abilities in the groups is worth pursuing in future research.
Sincerely,
From: XXXXX@sbcglobal.net
Hello. I have noticed a lot of the quality high school athletes are not offered the school of their choice and vice versa, due to academics. Academics is a huge area to address in sport psychology. Why are these athletes doing poorly and what can we do to help these young athletes grow, not only physically, mentally also?
From: athleticinsight@yahoo.com
The answer to why athletes are doing poorly in school is a simple one – time. An enormous amount of time needs to be devoted to physical training and practice in order for a high-school and college athlete to be successful in their sport. All too often this means sacrifices in other areas of life including academics. It takes a great deal of skill and discipline to manage the rigors of a season while maintaining grades at an acceptable level.
In reality, it is like having two full time experiences while in school. I remember working with the football team at my university and it amazed me what these guys went through. They would carry a full course load and in addition put in about thirty hours a week preparing for the following week’s game. If you factor in travel time and sheer physical exhaustion from training, it is easy to see why grades suffer.
The good news is that many colleges and universities are aware of this and give some leeway when selecting students for admission. In addition, many schools have an Academic Advising for Student Athletes department to assist them balance the demands of sports and school work. Unfortunately, this is not being done at the high-school level. With the increased focus that there is on athletic success at these schools, it seems imperative that they begin to set up academic advising programs to assist young athletes.
The key to academic success seems to center around time management and goal setting skills. I would often recommend to freshman athletes that they get an organizer so that they are able to plan for what they have to do during the upcoming weeks and months. Then I would have them break down major projects into smaller projects that they could manage more easily. For instance, if they had a final paper due at the end of the semester, I would have them set goals for themselves in terms of doing research, writing outlines, and writing the paper. By doing this, the project did not seem so over whelming.
For more in depth information, I suggest you check out The Freshman Experience: High Stress – Low Grades in the current issue.
Sincerely,
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