Research has provided evidence that athletic participation promotes growth and change in high school students (Ishee, 2004). For example, Marsh and Kleitman (2003) examined athletic participation in high school students with data from the National Education Longitudinal Study database. Team sports, individual sports, student backgrounds, school outcomes, and other extracurricular activities were examined along with standardized test scores, academic grades, homework, educational aspirations, and other variables such as self-esteem. Marsh and Kleitman (2003) reported findings that school athletic participation increased school identity and commitment to school activities. Extramural sports increased school identification and commitment more than intramural sports. This increased school identification and commitment benefited academic and nonacademic outcomes: academic grades increased, students did more homework and had higher educational aspirations, university applications and enrollment increased, as did educational level attainment (Marsh & Kleitman, 2003). As a result of findings such as these athletic participation is promoted in high schools nation-wide (Ishee, 2004). Schools facing budget cuts and financial problems are cautioned against cutting athletic programs, with particular emphasis on extramural and team sports. It is recommended that schools provide even more exciting athletic programs (Ishee, 2004; Marsh & Kleitman, 2003).
The problem is that while benefits of high school sports have been shown, argument exists regarding these findings. While the positive relationship between academic outcomes and athletic participation has been noted, it is argued that this may be due to the inclusion of better students in sport activities. Positive findings may be a result of using cross-sectional data, which may not indicate a causal relationship between sports participation and increased academic achievement. It ...