Onondaga Central
As a three-sport athlete at OCS, I am writing in regards to why winter sports should not be canceled and the importance of sports. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, high school sports being canceled is a problem that will have severe unintended consequences. While athletes realize the concern regarding COVID-19 there are other negative impacts on society and mental health, as a result of canceling sports. These negative impacts on the health, opportunities and well-being of student-athletes are being overlooked. There are ways to have high school sports in a safe manner during this unprecedented time by social distancing, more frequent sanitizing, wearing masks, limiting spectators, and testing athletes before competitions. These are overlooked facts about sports.
Athletics is vital to health, serves as a positive influence on teenagers, and constructive use of time. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, students who did not participate in any school-sponsored extracurricular activity were: · 57 percent more likely to have dropped out by the time they would have been seniors · 49 percent more likely to have used drugs · 37 percent more likely to have become teen parents · 35 percent more likely to have smoked cigarettes · 27 percent more likely to have been arrested (Zill, Nord, Loomis, 2015). In addition, studies have shown, including one published in the Journal of Tourism, Hospitality & Sports playing sports leads to improved life satisfaction which leads to better mental health in teenagers (Aderonmu, 2016). As well as emotional well-being, there are numerous health benefits to playing sports in high school which include: lower rates of obesity for athletes. Dr. Keith M. Drake found in a study published in the highly-respected Journal of Pediatrics, obesity rates would decrease by 26% and the number of overweight adolescents would fall 11% if every adolescent participated in at least two sports seasons (O'Connor, 2012). Furthermore, according to the American Council on Science and Health student-athletes have a lesser chance of developing osteoporosis later in life (Lief, 2018). Undoubtedly, the positive impact sports have on teenagers and in turn, society shows their necessity of high school athletics. The financial impact and hardship of not having high school athletics is astounding. There are students particularly juniors and seniors, even some sophomores relying on athletic scholarships to pay for college but also to be accepted into college. If New York State is concerned about college affordability they would have a sports season. Similarly, canceling high school sports increases the disparity and inequality between students who are fortunate enough to have the money to afford club teams and traveling off-season while lower-income students are left unable to compete unless their high school provides sports. Many other states are having sports, meaning NY athletes will be at a disadvantage. They could be passed over by colleges that instead select an athlete competing in another state. NY athletes will be losing skill from not competing while their out-of-state competitors are improving their skills. Not to mention the financial impacts on Booster Clubs and sports teams. By not hosting sporting events sports teams and booster clubs will lose out on vital money to fund programs. These include uniforms, gear, clinics, and camps for athletes, supplies, banquets, and awards. Lastly, there is a strong correlation between athletics and academics. Athletes on average have a higher GPA than non-athletes. Students who play zero sports have an average GPA of 2.72, 3.1 for one sport athlete, 3.31 for two-sport athletes, and 3.51 for three-sport athletes. This trend holds true for school attendance. Athletes have better attendance than non-athletes with students playing zero sports missing an average of 11.55 days per school year, compared to athletes, with one-sport athletes missing an average of 9.08 school days per year, two-sport athletes missing 6.19 school days per year three-sport athletes missing 5.65 school days per year. A 2012 study of students in Kansas concluded its results with "High school athletes earned higher grades, graduated at a higher rate, dropped out of school less frequently, and scored higher on state assessments than did non-athletes” (Urdahl, 2018). State and Section officials have continually postponed and canceled high school sports. The sciences say that sports have essential health benefits. The science shows that there are minimal COVID cases in school-sanctioned high school sports teams. In the fall, Section III had sports that resulted in few, if any COVID transmissions and little impact on the number of cases. In fact, the recent increase in COVID-19 occurred after fall sports had already ended. A comprehensive study from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine that included 207 schools in Wisconsin, representing 30,000 athletes that had over 16,000 practices and 4,000 games combined, found that only 271 athletes contracted COVID, compared to 2,318 Wisconsin school-aged children 14-17 in September. Athletes were not found to have a higher rate of COVID-19 than 14-17 year olds. None of the cases among athletes resulted in death or hospitalization (Richmond, 2020). Clearly, high school sports are safe and necessary. The question I leave for you is: Why can S.U. play sports, but not high school athletes? Follow the science, have high school sports.
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