remains unclear whether positive academic outcomes are due to athletic participation, student characteristics, or other variables. Further study of the issue with high school students who participate in sports activities is needed to investigate the benefits of high school athletics.
While benefits of high school sports have been shown, findings are inconsistent and unclear. For example, Videon (2002) noted that while there is a relationship between academic outcomes and athletic participation, there is also a tendency for the better students to participate more in sports. Findings are consistent regarding the benefits of athletic participation in teaching students life lessons, building self-esteem, and increasing interpersonal or leadership skills. It has also been shown that students who participate in athletics demonstrate fewer discipline problems and have higher attendance rates, have higher academic self-esteem, earn higher grades, participate more in college preparation, and aspire to go to college. Studies have shown that these students have long-term positive outcomes such as higher incomes and more occupational prestige. Despite these positive findings it is argued that previous results are based on cross-sectional data making causal assumptions difficult.
Thus, associations between educational outcomes and athletics may not actually indicate that sports participation leads to increased academic achievement. In fact it may be that high achieving and disciplined students are drawn to athletic activities. It remains unclear whether positive outcomes are a consequence of athletic participation or whether sports and athletics draws capable youth to a disproportionate degree (Videon, 2002).
Studies have shown the benefits of physical activity. Field, Diego, and Sanders (2001) conducted a study of high school students and found that enrollment in physical education with high levels of exercises was linked t...