Sports play an important role in the school curriculum as they facilitate feelings of achievement and personal fulfillment among students. Many educational institutions provide students with the option to join their sports programs. Students often spend considerable time and effort practicing for tournaments. They do this in either their free time between classes or after school. Sometimes, students may devote more time and energy to sports than necessary and this can negatively affect their academic performance.
The key is to ensure that students proactively manage their time for both academics and sports. Schools need to realize that sports are important for students in many ways. Firstly, apart from providing physical health benefits, sports create a culture of healthy competition in schools. It cultivates good sportsmanship among students and teaches them about the importance of accepting defeat gracefully.Consequently, this improves students’ tolerance and patience as they mature and these characteristics are effective for attaining success in different spheres of life.
Secondly, sports classes should be held in high schools so that children can channel their energy into a positive direction. They incentivize children to win games and bring glory to their schools. Additionally, motivating children to participate in sports allows them to strive for personal achievement in their respective games and this builds self-esteem which, in turn, makes students become more confident performers. Playing sports also releases endorphins which are chemicals that reduce stress and promote active lifestyles. This enables students to achieve high grades in school, thus showing a positive correlation between academic performance and sports.
Hence, I am of the view that stopping sports classes in high school is not the right approach for a successful generation. The reason is that although it would compel students to spend more time studying, they may experience work-life imbalance, frustration and therefore, suffer detrimental consequences in the long run.
Band 7.5