Being an athlete makes us better students?
Skills acquired doing sport at professional level, as the capability to focus and to improvise, can improve the academic performances? It’s not easy to coordinate sportive career with the route through degree, but every research suggests that the ability to “juggle” on both commitments brings to substantial improvements in those fields.
A research published last year from “The International Journal of History of Sport” revealed that the concept of Dual Career permits the growth of motivation stimulating the athletes intellectually and relieving stress.
According to Ian Henry, the Director of the Center of Olympic studies and the University Research of Loughborough, having a consistent interest as the study, other than the sport practiced, helps the athletes to “have an important perspective in the formation and in the performances, making possible to face more effectively sport challenges, even defeats and accidents.
The opportunities to keep doing professional sport in the American and European university are a lot but not in those Italian university, a nation where only few innovative, among which stands out LUISS, first in the Italian private university, give to students these possibilities.
The self-discipline that characterize athletes is a great factor that helps to conquer positive academic results, in fact professional sport eliminates the procrastination. Of course, this concept is valid even for those who practice sport for passion, not only at agonistic level. Is a concept well known: mens sana in corpore sano.
The English research has underlined the fact that involvement in academic sport can raise the student occupation. “Head hunters have affirmed that student athletes respond to profiles searched in the work world because of their capability to balance academic and others commitments, enhancing group work and the decisional process”, affirms Alex Taylor, sportive responsible of Birmingham University.
Even the involving in the non-phisichal sport sector – from volunteering to coaching – gives the opportunity to develop leadership skill which is a fundamental character in the work field. Best athlete students are also versatile because have the capacity to improvise when things get worse. “Professional sportive involvement it’s a challenge and also life imposes inspected challenge, from accidents to problematics that rise in the work commitments”, affirms Taylor.
(source The Guardian)