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Jessica Robles

Professor Batty

English 101

20 March 2019

College Athletes Mind Set

College athletes are one of the most known students to fail in school. In an NCAA facts article

they state “Not every college athlete has considered a life outside of sports, statistics reveal that

graduation rates are shockingly low.” Most college athletes tend to only put their focus on

playing and not having an education. Its known that a very small percentage of college athletes

go pro. Students get scholarships to schools and think their main focus in on playing. They

completely forget about their education. I think teachers and coaches should be giving a

punishment to students who focus on playing more than their education. The students should

also not have a mind set of just putting their focus on sports than education.

Teachers and coaches should give an equally amount of time for the students to focus on their

education and playing. This can help resolve students from not graduating because they're so

focused on playing and not learning. Jordan Scultz quotes “The first two years were tough,

academically and socially.” Sports can get to your head and that’s all what you want to focus on

when you should also be focusing on your education. Studies show college athletes spend three

times as many hours per week on athletics as they do on academics. A solution is, if the student

is doing bad academically they should be suspended from the team until their grades are up. I

don't think a college athlete should be getting away with playing in games while there are low
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grades sitting on their transcript. Teachers and coaches should give them equally same time for

classwork and sports and if nothing resolves out of this, they should be suspended from playing.

Mainly students who get scholarships from the sport they were playing in high school go into

college with a mind set as the sport they will be playing is their number one priority. They all

tend to think they can get professional when in reality as they state in an NCAA article “Fewer

than 2 percent of NCAA student-athletes go on to be professional athletes.” (Jasmine Harris,

2018) That leaves you with 98 percent of students who don't go pro. As a reason to why student

athletes should focus on an education so they can graduate successfully and do something with

their life after college. Teachers and coaches should be giving their students a warning on what

can happen, not everyone goes pro and you need a back up. It shouldn't be the teachers

problem to tell the students but to remind them what can happen if they fail.

The students are failing, they just focus on sports. Teachers and coaches can put a stop to

this. College athletes seemed to find a way having horrible grades but still playing in sports that

they're in. Both coaches and teachers should give a discipline on having bad grades. “Jalen

wanted and needed to utilize the main academic support systems provided by the college, but

literally didn’t have the time.” (Zak Cheney-Rice, 2014) They didn’t have time because they're a

college athlete and obviously they never have time because they're playing. Completely false,

this is where the coaches and teachers come in and discuss consequences and equally time

given for playing and an education. Students make excuses for having bad grades.
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Interesting as is, some college athletes do take a break from academics. They technically don't

leave the school they just don't take any classes for a year or so. This is also a reason to as why

college athletes graduation rates are low. Truly I think this shouldn't be a decision the students

should make on their own. If you're in a sport you should be attending classes no matter what, if

not you should be dropped from your sport or school. Studies show some kids just need a break

from academics and learning because they need to focus on their sport. This shouldn't be an

option. This is where coaches and teachers come in as well and discuss you either do both or

drop out. You should be getting good grades and not failing if you want to continue to play a

sport and be a college athlete.

In conclusion, student athletes should get a discipline if they're not doing academically well.

They should be getting help from both coaches and teachers. As well as teachers and coaches

should take it more seriously and discuss what can happen to their students if they don't

succeed academically. They should be getting equally the same amount of time. Students

shouldn't have the option if they want to stop focusing on school for a while and just focus on

playing. Students as well should be getting checked up on every now and then from their

counselor to see where they are at academically. If nothing resolves from this they should be

suspended from playing for a while, therefore they can focus on an education and college

athlete graduation rates can go higher.

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Work Cited

Harris, Jasmine. “College Athletes Don't Have Time to Be Students.” HoustonChronicle.com,

Houston Chronicle, 15 Oct. 2018, www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/college-

athletes-academic-performance-graduation-13308008.php.

Cheney-Rice, Zak. “Here's What Happens to the 98% of College Athletes Who Don't

Go Pro.” Mic, Mic Network Inc., 25 Oct. 2015, mic.com/articles/85789/here-s-what-

happens-to-the-98-of-college-athletes-who-don-t-go-pro#.cb7pfLhUK.Manfred, Tony.

“Here Are The Odds That Your Kid Becomes A Professional Athlete (Hint: They're

Small).” Business Insider, Business Insider, 10 Feb. 2012, http://

www.businessinsider.com/odds-college-athletes-become-professionals-2012-2