Category: Athletes

For many athletes in high school, the goal is to have the chance to play a sport in college. However, questions they may ask them themselves are, “Is it worth it? or “Am I going to be able to focus on my schoolwork while maintaining a full-time job?”. With all the time that athletes put into the sport in between the classroom, field, weight room, practices, and film, students consider their sport as a job. There are several reasons why college athletes should be paid, one being that they have no time to maintain a job while playing.

Being a student athlete means that not only are you furthering your education, but you’re also maintaining athletics with little to no extra time on your hands. These students have a lot on their schedule and don’t have the opportunity like regular students to seek jobs or any extracurricular activities. In the article “Fair Play: Should College Athletes Get Paid” the author Rebecca Zissou states that “playing college sports is a full-time job. Students can spend forty hours a week practicing, training, and competing. While some athletes receive scholarships, the average amount doesn’t cover the full cost of college.” Some people may say why should athletes be paid when they are on scholarships? However, not all athletes get the luxury of being on a full ride, many have the expectations for athletes with these scholarships to still be financially responsible for the leftover money that the school doesn’t cover. What people forget is these athletes still have the same responsibilities and dedication to be the best as an athlete on a full ride does. It’s easy to say that their focus should be only on school and paying them will portray the wrong message. However, Huma adds “College Athletes are just like all other hardworking Americans. They should receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” (qtd. In Zissou).

Paying college athletes will support them to be successful after college.

After spending four years being on a sports team and dedicating their life to the sport, realism kicks in and these players ask themselves what is the next step? The truth of it is many of these players don’t get drafted and when being in the limelight in college and providing entertainment for others, they still walk away needing to find an alternative plan to provide for a future for themselves. In the article “Calif. Lawmakers Defy NCAA Ban on Pay for Athletes” Proponents of the bill say students would be the beneficiaries. Female athletes, especially, would benefit, said the bill’s author, Nancy Skinner, a Democratic senator from Berkeley. Women have few professional athletic opportunities after college, she argued, and this prohibits them from profiting from their talent at the apex of their athletic careers, and it takes away a great opportunity. (qtd. Skinner 1)

Importantly, student athletes are the main source of income for their schools. In the article “Should College Athletes be Paid?” Nocera believes that college athletes should be paid. Nocera considers that due to the revenue that basketball and football teams bring in, it is only appropriate that these athletes get compensated for their hard work. (Nocera 1). He goes on to say “College football and basketball are multibillion-dollar businesses. They have billion-dollar TV deals and corporate team sponsors” (Nocera 2). College athletes should get paid based on the university’s income from the sport and clothing sales. The athletes being recruited for college sports are bigger, quicker and tougher than ever and will produce more income due to the number of fans who watch each week. College Universities produce so much revenue during the year that it is only reasonable to the players to receive part of that as compensation.

After reviewing the hourly pay of zero dollars and the amount of time, sweat, and tears that a collegiate sport requires. Some will rethink the dreams that once seemed so reasonable. almost anyone who is engaged with sports, whether it be viewing them or playing them, has an outlook on whether college athletes should be paid. Based on how the National Collegiate Athletic Association has grown over time and the amount of revenue they produce; college athletes should get paid for the time that they put into their sports. The time that they contribute to their sport is equal to the time someone puts into a full-time job, if not more. Only some college athletes receive a scholarship, many of those are partial, and only a small percent of all college athletes make it to the pros. Since most college athletes do not get a full ride and do not go pro, colleges should pay the athlete as if their sport was their job to help them pay off college tuition.

Sports have been around for years. In 1636, lacrosse became the first sport in America. Later on in 1837, education came along which led to high school and college and of coulp[rse sports got bigger as time went on which led us to student-athletes. In today’s modern society, being a student- athlete is popular. Being a student-athlete is about being a student first; therefore, keeping up good grades should be a top priority. To be a student- athlete, it requires a trained or skilled person to be fit in exercises, sports, or games. A student- athlete is a person that competes in organized competitive sports sponsored at an educational institutional in which he or she is enrolled. The United States have had organized sports in schools since 1903, thanks to Luther Gulick who established the public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) that caused similar leagues in 177 cities by 1915. A sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

The year of 1891, basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts. On June 6, 1946, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded, on April 24, 1996, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) was founded. On November 20, 1869 football was created by Walter Camp in Canton, Ohio. On August 20, 1920, the National Football League (NFL) was founded. High school student- athletes schedule and standards are not as stressful as college athletes. Being a student- athlete in college and a student – athlete in high school are similar with some differences. Being an athlete period comes with many different responsibilities than just being a normale student. Athletes are set to a higher standard than the average student in high school and collegiate level.

One major area student- athletes are held to a higher standard academically. According to Clyde Benton Jr, Damion Baugh, and Jahleel Billingsley, all student- athletes representing LeMoyne Owens, Memphis University, and the University of Alabama agreed that being a student- athlete in high school is a little lighter than being an athlete in college, but with similar responsibilities with less time. Freshman shooting guard Clyde Benton Jr on LeMoyne Owens men’s basketball team, said as student-athlete his main focuses are being on top of his classes and maintaining a 3.0 grade point average as a student but, from a basketball standpoint, his responsibilities are keeping his body in shape, eating healthy, and getting enough rest with having 9:00 am classes which causes him to wake up two hours early for breakfast. Benton implied that his life as a student-athlete is based on the clock due to his early mornings and late nights with classes ranging from 9:00 am to 12:15 pm with lunch, getting an hour of rest before a three hour practice on a good day, having individual workouts, and still having homework when coming back to his dorm. He also believes being a student-athlete in high school v.s a student-athlete in college is similar because his responsibilities does not change when it comes to staying on top of his school work as well as staying in shape; however, Benton believes that because athletes are now on their own they have more freedom in the outside world because “you don’t have anybody watching over you (parents, grandma, etc) but with freedom comes more responsibilities as an adult and higher standards as an athlete”.

Freshman Jahleel Billingsley who is a tight end on the men’s football team at the University of Alabama believes that athletes are held to a higher standard when it comes to being a student and even an athlete although athletes have more lenient when it comes down to their professor because his professors understand his daily schedule with 8:00 am and 9:00 am tutoring sections Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:30 tutoring sections on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a 9:30 English class and another class at 11:00 am following two to three hour team meetings back at the complex before a two hour practice and another tutoring session for an hour at 7:00pm. However, Billingsley does not thinks it’s a massive difference from high school because he has been playing football for the past 14 years and based off of his experiences he had times when he had to be alone and take care of himself.

Many athletes are so focused on their sport and performing well athletically that they only worry about maintaining their eligibility. Many of these students choose easy majors, take easy courses, etc. Many stereotypes exist about the academic success and failure of student-athletes. The idea of the “dumb jock” is often promulgated, unchallenged, by the general academic community. In order to determine if athletes do worse because of the time commitment of athletic practices, games, etc., a study was conducted by Maloney and McCormick to compare the grades of athletes during and out of season. If athletes performed worse during their sport season, in terms of GPA, then it would make sense that it is indeed the time of college athletics that hinders their performance. In football, the in season coefficient was -0.543. This number shows that football players receive a full letter grade lower in half of the classes they take during their season. In their offseason, their grades are better than non-athletes but are not high enough to negate the effects of their lower in-season grades. In the other seven sports with seasons that are well defined, the results showed a coefficient of -0.312.

This coefficient shows that athletes get a letter grade worse than their non-athlete counterparts in 30% of the classes they take during their sport season. An interesting finding of the study, however, was that in the six nonrevenue sports, the coefficient was a mere -0.012. This coefficient means that nonrevenue athletes receive a grade lower only roughly 1% of the time, a very small difference. In the offseason, these same athletes received a grade letter higher than their peers 5% of the time, making their GPA’s higher than their fellow undergraduates over the course of a year. In addition, these nonrevenue athletes had no significant grading differential between their on-season and off-season grades. For the purpose of the study, the sports with well-defined seasons were those where there was one semester (Fall or Spring) where there was significantly more practice times, meetings, etc. In this study the sports with well-defined seasons were baseball, football, golf, soccer, tennis (men’s and women’s) and volleyball. Both football and the seven well defined sports had positive coefficients in their offseason but not high enough to counter their negative coefficients during the season. Some variables pertaining to these results were whether athletes take harder courses, larger course loads or came to school less prepared. The results found that athletes in revenue sports do not take larger course loads during season; in fact, they take much lighter loads. Therefore, course load is not a determinant of the different grades in and out of season. In addition, the study found that in terms of course difficulty, athletes tend to take courses of similar difficulty during their season and in the offseason.

Therefore, the difficulty of the course is not a reason for lower academic performance. Lastly, it was suggested that maybe athletes are less qualified entering students because of poorer high school educations. However, the results show that, in general, athletes come from high schools that are educationally equal to those of regular students.

One of the biggest discussions in the sports world is should student athletes get paid to go to college? This type of pay is different from FAFSA and a full ride scholarship. I value these athletes having money for the essentials and necessities to live. Student athletes should get paid to go to college because their sport is their job. The amount of practice hours a week, the homework overload, all the traveling, and the amount of practice days during the week makes it hard for some athletes to get a job. If an athlete is on scholarship for their sport, they have to maintain their grades above a certain gpa. Which means if they do not do their work off the field, then there will be no more work on the field. While some have full rides and are getting their books and classes paid for, others can be walk ons or have half a scholarship where the money has to come out of their own pockets. If they do not have a job and some parents are not able to contribute much to pay for schooling, where would the money come from?

The money the athletes would be getting paid would come from the athletic department, depending on what school it is, it will come from the school as well and all the fundraising each sport does. These student athletes would get a monthly salary on a card, sort of like food stamps. They are only allowed to spend it on essentials like food, water, and clothing, but the clothing stores has to be within reason and not like Louis Vuitton. This salary would allow these athletes to focus more on their schooling and sports rather than when their next meal would be.

College Pulse did a poling platform using 2,501 college students in California on the debate of student athletes getting paid. One of their main focuses was the compensation for student athletes and found that 53% of students are in favor for compensating the athletes and among the athletes, 71% favor in this as well. These athletes have worked hard to get where they are. Students at their own schools believe they should get salaries. There is a bill in California called Fair Pay to Play Act which is where athletes at colleges in California who make more than $10 million in media revenue would profit of their likenesses. College Pulse describes it as being similar to college athletes. If this bill passes, it will go into effect in January of 2023.

Labor Law Journal says the amount of effort and work these athletes put on the field or court leads to the amount of income these universities or colleges get. They can come from ticket sales, merchandise sales, and if the school is broadcasted on television, that revenue as well. These athletes could be taxed as a non-cash based employee compensation.

Development in Decision Making

Making an effective decision is an important part for the cricket as well for the development of an athletes in this particular sports(1). An ability of an athletes to take right decision in term of making the process successful in sports(Poolton, Master, & Maxwell,2006); also an integral part for the performance in cricket (Bull, Shambrook, James, & Brooks, 2005; Crombie, Lombard, & Noakes, 2009)

In the sports like cricket decision making is an important part for an every individual taking part in the game for the improvement of the performance of a team as well as for the individuals. All the participants participating in the game from bowlers bowling to the batsman, batsman facing the bowler as well the fielders to the coaches of the teams involves themselves in the decision making from the starting to an end of the game(1).

Development in Fitness

Fitness in the sports like cricket is not considered as important. Importance of fitness in any sports are very important factor. The athletes has to be fit in term of delivering the good performance in the sports like cricket. Cricket is a sport which require all aspects of fitness from the mental health to physical endurance and stamina (2). The professionalism shown by the Australlian Cricket team from the year 1990 – 2000 was the part of fitness (3). Earlier the physical fitness was considered as level of fitness meets the physical demands of the day to day life, but the definition of the physical fitness has been changed to well being, physical healthy condition to the mental stability, it also considered as body ability to be effective and efficient to meet daily activity and leisure time(2)

Sports Studies in the Management of Athletes and Team in Cricket

There are many sports where the statisticians are involves in the game but those are basically for the television viewers. Sports like Cricket it requires the statistician are involved from the very first day of the game. Those are statisticians are required to manage and solve various cricket issues which occur. Due to the various developed hardware and software the statistical and data mining tools have reached the zenith for the management of cricketing issue in cricket.

Sports Studies in the Coaching of the Athletes

The supportive atmosphere has to be created by the coaches for the athletes and for the team as well for avoiding stress in the individuals of the team. Coaches has to develop positive attitude in the athletes to avoid the stress about the high expectation performance with themselves. The coaches should stop themselves from heavily criticizing an athlete for the bad performances instead of using positive attitude. Pushing an individual in the game of cricket above their limit and the expectation may lead to destroy their skills and will result in sending into the stress. Sometimes the athletes drop their performance rate and result themselves in going into the stress which is basically caused because the coaches and the parents failed to bring out the best from an individual in the particular sports. For the coaches it is very important to communicate well to the players fail in communication also brings down the performance of an individual because they are unaware about what are the expectations are there from the coaches which led the coaches and the athletes move in two different direction and fails to maintain their place in the team . Many players fail to perform because they actually lack in the technical and motivational encouragement instruction, to rectify this particular problem of an athlete the coaches should response on these factors to enhance their performance (Smoll & Smith, 2002).

The development of women’s cricket

Women have started playing the cricket since 1745. But the governing body was formed in the 1926 (WCA). During the time of their growing the WCA was aware of disfavor in the involvement to the sport which was considered as male sports. As a result WCA did not try to compete with men’s cricket or demanded the facilities like the men’s cricket had. WCA decided to play the game same as male do to maintain the exactly the same norms and values of cricket. The main motive for WCA was to maintain the same status and dignity which have been maintained by the men’s cricket team all around the globe.

In this day and age, the ideal goal for most people is to find something they love to do and work hard every day to get better at their craft and get rewarded for this hard work. College athletes can kill two birds with one stone when it comes to finding their passion and getting rewarded for it. These athletes get to play the sport they love and get rewarded for it by going to a school often times that they don’t even have to pay a dime out of pocket for, and they get to explore all the school has to offer through the hard work they put in on the field. The NCAA generates over 1 billion dollars in revenue a year, coming from merchandise, tickets sales, and television contracts. With all of this revenue not a single penny is received by the athletes who allow this revenue to be possible. Off the top of the head this is completely unfair. However, college athletes may not receive material goods but they do receive many benefits.

The average price for college tuition is 35,830 dollars. A majority of college athletes attend the school on full-scholarship meaning that all expenses that the athlete will have is paid for. Therefore, instead of the students being given an actual paycheck they are saved the burden of having to pay for college. By looking at this like a business it would become obvious that the NCAA is the owner and the athletes are their employees. Mark Emmert, NCAA president, is very clearly able to show why college athletes should not be paid, by saying “College athletics is about college students playing other college students, not employees playing employees” By going to college these students should be learning the right tools that will help them be successful later on in life. However, if they were to be treated like employees it would not only take the enjoyment that comes with playing for your school out of the game. Also, it would cause for these athletes to become more separated from the true value of education. These athletes have played this sport for their whole lives and they have loved every single second of it, “The last thing athletes want to happen is to turn college sports into a chore or a job with an hourly wage. Then the pure love gets lost. It should never be about how much material value your play is worth.” By turning college sports into a job it only will cause for the enjoyment a player gets every time he or she steps on the field to decrease and turn the love for the sport into a burden. In the end making the athletes only care about the money rather than their passion for the game.

Many individuals have different views on this situation, and one person in particular Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explains very clearly that the hard work that he put in was only benefiting the school. “Despite the hours I put in every day, practicing, learning plays, and traveling around the country to play games, and despite the millions of dollars our team generated for UCLA—both in cash and in recruiting students to attend the university—I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play,” Abdul-Jabbar is able to show the amount of work these athletes have to put in making it so that their only focus is on the team. We also are able to see the side current college students stand on. “Most college students, however, are in agreement. According to a recent survey of 2,501 college students by polling platform College Pulse, a majority of students support initiatives to pay college athletes.” These current students know best they have the same amount of work as the athletes do however, they do not have to manage their time around playing a sport. These students are able to see how the school benefits off of these athletes hard-work and their names. On the other hand, not only the current students but also Kareem Abdul-Jabbar do not realize how gifted these athletes are for having the ability to play for their school.

With all of the benefits that come with playing college sports there is no reason that the athletes should get paid. By looking at what Abdul-Jabbar said “I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play” Kareem grew up in a very impoverished lifestyle meaning that there was no way that he would be attending college if it wasn’t for basketball. He wants to say that he put all of this work in and was not able to do anything fun besides play basketball, that may be the case but he would never be in the spot that he was in if he was not give a full-scholarship. Also, he would not have been given the publicity which made him as successful as he is today. Additionally, with all of these students being in favor of paying the athletes it may make people who do not want to pay the athletes question what side they stand on. However, these students still have yet to realize the financial burden that comes with paying for college, which these athletes are being exempt from. These athletes do not have to pay nearly 60,000 dollars a year in college tuition plus all the expenses that come with it and also they are treated like kings on campus. They are being greedy as they do not see the education as a privilege to them rather they see it as something taking away from their time with sports. Why should these athletes be paid when they take the education that they are being given for granted.

There are many significant arguments that come on the side of paying college athletes, however they do not over power the arguments on the side of not paying the athletes. Most of these athletes are very poor and by paying them it would only harm the reputation of college athletics. Whether it be by the athletes focus being drawn away from the sport just to make more money or by having the enjoyment from the sport be taken away because it has turned more into a job then their passion. These athletes have what many wish they could have, which is having the ability to use great training facilities and great doctors. All of this comes with no charge, which still has yet to be appreciated by these athletes. The debate about this issue is very ridiculous even by leaving out all the benefits that they receive, just by putting money in these athletes hands sounds like a bad idea as most of these kids are too immature to handle the money. Furthermore, to help put an end to this debate the schools should put more money into helping these kids prepare for life down the road.

The Essence of Competitive Sports

Although sports are generally known as being the same, they can be distinguished into two distinct categories, competitive and non-competitive. Of course, every sport has some sort of competitiveness depending on the individual and the specific sport. Competitive sports are sports that require the maximum amount of profession an individual can do in order to be able to compete. In other words, it requires a great amount of physical effort (O’Donnell, 2019). These sports tend to be the most popular ones such as football, soccer, and basketball, with football and basketball being responsible for two-thirds of the sudden deaths of athletes in the United States (Cardiac Health, n.d.). People who view sports like that are typically very stressed upon it and will attempt pushing the limits of what the body can really withstand in regards to the competitiveness. Nonetheless, if practiced correctly, sports as such have various advantages, such as teaching social skills, understanding the importance of roles and respecting them, building confidence, accepting a loss, teamwork, and many more (Long, 2018).

Non-Competitive Sports: A Leisurely Approach

In contrast, non-competitive sports focus more on leisure rather than competitiveness. Non-competitiveness promotes a more relaxed environment, engaging in a sport for the fun of it, as a means of destressing, having no reason to be competitive. Moreover, it teaches good skills, stimulates healthy growth in a safe environment, and encourages self-growth. A few of these sports include archery, surfing, skateboarding, cycling, and hiking (O’Donnell, 2019).

The Cardiovascular Impact of Sports

In sports, generally, the heart works in conformity with the pressure put on it. This is especially for athletes or individuals who play sports a lot of time. Considering the high function of the heart, pumping blood throughout our body and spreading the oxygen, it needs to adapt to such changes constantly. To elaborate, during exercise or sports it is crucial to have the oxygen delivered at a higher and faster rate than normal, demanding the heart to work faster. Eventually, after continued exercise or sports, the heart will increase in size, thickness, and muscle mass (Fiedler, 2015). It is during these times that heart abnormalities usually come to light. The heart will be able to function normally on a daily basis, however, it can not keep up with the pressure put on it, because a competitive sport can place a command on the volume and pressure of the heart (Rice, 2008). Not having the blood pumped properly or the oxygen not delivered at the fast rates necessary will cause the individual to pass out, collapse, or possibly pass away. Moreover, in the rare circumstances of these unfortunate events, there needs to be an immediate response. If immediate action is taken in the first couple of minutes, the chance of survival is 90%. If the proper help isn’t provided right away, the survival chance decreases by 10% every minute (Cardiac Health, n.d.). This becomes difficult considering the lack of training given to the coaches with about only 29% of them with the proper CPR and basic first aid training (Solomon, 2017).

The majority may view sports through the competitive aspect, forgetting about the possible toll it can have on an individual’s well being and health, specifically when it comes to cardiovascular diseases. It is important to balance between physical fitness to improve an individual’s health and between their actual health. The health of individuals can only be improved to a certain point when using sports to do such, rather, when taken too far, it can lead to many health complications and start to affect the body in a negative way. This can strictly fall under the competitive sports used all over the states quite often, which if not brought attention to can lead to more incidents of sudden cardiac-related deaths in sports fields.

Due to the different levels of competitiveness, it is standard to have different requirements based on which category of sport is desired. The requirements would be limited to the current optional form, usually required by schools, for non-competitive sports. This form would be sufficient because since these sports do not have a high demand for the heart’s function, underlying cardiovascular issues will not be considered. The heart will be able to maintain the relatively normal pressure put on it. However, the answers put on the sport form should be confirmed by the health professional, not just by the individual. Also, if there are any red flags detected by the health professional, further testing must be required.

Balancing Physical Fitness and Health Risks

On the other hand, competitive sports should require full heart testing prior to playing sports. This would be the best way to ensure the safety and health of an individual. This requirement would be fulfilled with an electrocardiogram, otherwise referred to as an EKG. According to the American Heart Association (2015), an electrocardiogram is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. This is done by an electric impulse moving through the heart with every beat to the heart. The reaction of the heart recorded can help cardiologists conclude the pace of heart rhythms, fast, slow, abnormal, or normal. It can also determine if any parts of the heart are functioning improperly. This test identifies many cardiovascular problems such as myocarditis, coronary artery diseases, and dilated cardiomyopathy. An EKG can also identify hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common cause of sudden death in young athletes, 36% (D’Silva & Papadakis, 2015). Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an exorbitant thickening of the heart muscle that can prompt an unpredictable heartbeat called ventricular fibrillation which brings about no blood being pumped from the heart.

Preventive Measures: The Importance of Heart Testing

The cost of an EKG test would typically range from $420 to $1,100 in Michigan (New Choice Health, n.d.). However, these tests are covered in some insurance plans. Some plans cover only a portion of the cost while others cover the total cost. Usually, insurance health plans cover an estimate of 80% of the total. A few hospitals give a small discount for uninsured patients such as the Washington Hospital Healthcare System (Cost Helper, n.d.). Through Medicare, for example, this test would be covered with a referral from a doctor (Medicare, n.d.). In addition to that, considering the high prices of the EKG that can get too expensive for average families, there are current services in the state of Michigan that provides this exam for student-athletes at no cost. Beaumont and Mercy Health are two of the organizations willing to test high school student-athletes at no cost. The location, date, and what the exam encompasses is specified by each organization.

Sports and Spirituality: An Islamic Perspective

Preserving one’s health is a crucial part of Islamic teachings. In Islam, the importance of preserving ones’ health and body is at constant repetition throughout the Quran, Sunnah, and Ahadith as it is an obligation put upon us. Hence, it is important to understand the importance of physical health while reminding our fellow Muslims to be cautious with their actions because health is indeed a true gift from Allah (SWT) a believer should be grateful for. Moreover, Allah (SWT) granted us our physical form as a form of trust we need to fulfill. A believer must act in accordance with that trust and avoid anything that will cause harm to the body to the best of their abilities. Sports is one of the many things proven as a beneficial way to take care of our health.

Regarding health, the Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘There are two gifts which many men are unmindful about – good health and leisure.’ (Bukhari). The Prophet (s.a.w) also encouraged his followers to pray for maintaining good health. In one narration he said, ‘Ask Allah for forgiveness and health.’ (An Nasai). In another it was narrated that a Bedouin once asked the Prophet (s.a.w), saying, ‘O Prophet of Allah (s.a.w), what supplication shall I make to Allah after I have finished doing the Salah? The Prophet (s.a.w) said, ‘Ask for good health’. Based on these, it is safe to say that maintaining good health was something the prophet (SAW) insisted on the believers as many seem to underestimate its importance to Allah (SWT). If any individual lacks in caring for their health and wellbeing, then that can be summarized as not appreciating the gift Allah (SWT) is giving his believers, health. In many ways, that can be taken into different perspectives, but as believers, one of the most important ways to show gratitude to Allah (SWT) is by not allowing oneself to fall into destroying the health. In the Holy Quran, this was prohibited to us: ‘ And do not throw yourselves into destruction.’ (2: 195, Quran). The ayah focuses on projecting the image that believers should not comply with anything that could bring them harm or destruction. Failing to do so will result in questioning such matters and actions done otherwise on the Day of Judgement, ‘Then on that day (the Day of Judgement) you shall be asked about the favours (of Allah).’ (102:8, Quran).

Cardiovascular testing is an essential key in preserving the health of students, athletes, and individuals who are interested in participating in a sport. It becomes obvious that these sudden deaths or health complications that occur on the field due to underlying cardiovascular complications can be prevented if the necessary precautions are taken. Most of the time these deaths occur to presumably healthy individuals. Proper screening identifies 3% to 10% of at-risk athletes (Cardiac Health, n.d.). This percentage is relatively high, understanding that not all athletes must have heart screenings before participating in sports. This percentage can be greatly maximized if the student is required to have completed a heart screening before being involved in any competitive sport. Every life is important and worth the extra step to protect it. Small overlooks such as these can cause families to lose their loved ones, hospitalizations, and many other unnecessary measures that can all be prevented.

Sports is primarily a competitive activity where winning is the be all and end all. Perhaps that is why, in this highly competitive sports environment, we quite often hear about unethical behaviour which includes cheating, bending the rules, doping, abuse of food additives, physical and verbal violence, harassment, sexual abuse and trafficking of young sportspersons, discrimination, exploitation, unequal opportunities, unethical sports practices, unfair means, excessive commercialisation, use of drugs in sports and corruption.

Nowadays sports is all about winning, it does not matter how you win it. Players and coaches are encouraged to bend the rules wherever possible to gain a competitive advantage over an opponent rather than following the rules set by the authorities. For example, the payers engage in unethical activities such as faking a foul, attempting to get a head start in a race, use of performance-enhancement drugs, etc.

Betting in sports has promoted interest in sports and at the same time influenced sports negatively. Values such as honesty, fairness, justice, and patriotism are quickly fading out as corruption, falsehood, malice, selfishness, and unfairness gain grip on many sporting activities. Match-fixing and other manipulative actions are well-documented. Bearing in mind all these unethical activities, betting in sports should be regulated according to the ethical standards to reduce sports-related crime.

The concept of a perfect world where race, color, religion, political stance, and gender are all equal is a good goal to strive for. Singling out individuals or groups based on any of those characteristics is wrong. Sports would be a perfect place to let down the barriers. But that is not the case, there is bias in sport today. There is racism and discrimination in every sport towards either fans or players. It is important to note that racism isn’t only in sports it is in every part of life. Sport is just a medium through which people share their racist ideology. To combat increasing racism you have to educate people to first understand what racism is and its consequences. Because most of the people don’t intend to make racist statements but unintentionally do it. For people doing it intentionally strict punishment or a lifetime ban should be implemented.

In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors. The doping phenomenon in sports is increasing and diversifying, as are the drugs used for doping. There is a race among those who invent new doping methods and sports ethics organizations that are searching for more performant methods to detect them. Unfortunately, most of the time, those in the first category are always one step ahead. Improving scientific procedures used to detect prohibited substances is, of course, a necessity and also a challenge. Resolute action is required to restore fair-play throughout the sports industry and last but not least, the ethics and fair-play education of young athletes.

Introduction

During a body workout, the body is under stress and to top it all, athletes experience chronic pain. With an aim to achieve top prize, they end up paying the full cost of torn muscles, arthritis, or strained ligaments. Others seek to find quick supplements to ease pain but end up getting banned. Various research is being conducted on CBD and it continues to be popular among athletes and here’s why

1. Lower stress levels and anxiety

Before any big moment, an athlete has to be confident. However, sometimes anxiety overwhelms an athlete to the extent of doubting their capabilities. They end up pushing their bodies to the limit thus making the body be in a stressful position. Athletes end up taking CBD due to its antidepressant nature which treats anxiety disorder efficiently as well as regulating cortisol’s secretion that is responsible for stress

2. Reduce inflammation

At one point in time, an athlete experiences inflammation pains. This’s a result of accumulation of lactic acid in muscles and joints. The risk of leaving this untreated can cost athletes their chance in engaging in future endeavours. Nonetheless, CBD contains anti-inflammatory elements which supress inflammation reactors by targeting the receptors. This’s used in prevention of joint injuries in physical activities as well as managing post exercise pains

3. Pain reliever

All athletes are in consensus with there’s no training without pain. Many have tried all sorts of painkillers including OTC pain meds. Some stop working at some point. There’s a better way to deal and that’s where CBD comes in. it assist in combating chronic pains as well as neuropathic pains without keeping the brain in a fog

4. Control weight and appetite

As professionals, good food is paramount to become healthy as well as improve performance to achieve optimality. Sadly, having an appetite is a struggle. By taking CBD for athletes, there is a slow in appetite towards foods as well as controlling over eating. They also assist one to stay longer in a game

5. Boost immune system

The body needs to be in top shape when a big game is underway. However, stress levels might diminish body’s functioning and one might get sick as a result. Taking CBD supplements is a reason to keep one healthy while training more so during winter where one is most likely to become ill. CBD has high antioxidant elements which assist one in fighting infectious bacteria and also the cardio is in great shape

6. Improve quality of sleep

To achieve greater training goals, one needs better sleep.. As the brain breaks ATP as it burns carbs to produce energy. This leads to accumulation of adenosine which leads to neurons inhibiting transmitters that slows the brain’s activities to provide a clam feeling as well as induce sleep. The body, metabolizes adenosine during sleep, and low levels help one to wake up. This’s why athletes take CBD as it inhibits adenosine re-uptake thus assist one sleep sooner and have a longer healthier sleep

Conclusion

These benefits are what makes CBD for athletes the top choice among many. There was an approval of cannabidiol among athletes in 2018 after it was eliminated from prohibited substances lists. One can simply order on online without fear of putting their career in jeopardy.

Many parents wonder if joining a highly competitive sports team is the right decision for their youth athletes. All over the news we see newscast after newscast of increasing childhood obesity and health related diseases such as diabetes. Given this reality, kids need to be educated on the need to be more physically active, and being on a sports team seems like a great way to stay healthy. It appears on the surface that children are happy and healthy as they engage in these activities, but there are many underlying stressors than can contradict this. WIth participation rates increasing there has been more discussion of the psychological risks that children face in sports, and with good reason. Within peer-reviewed research, concerns have been raised over the psychological stresses within youth sports. Based on my experiences being raised by sports I feel qualified to discuss stress levels, coach impact, and academic performance.

Balancing Act: Sports and Stress

Athletes spend hours practicing and competing in their sport. Some athletes believe that their sport participation acts as a stress reliever for their everyday lives, while others find that these long, exhausting hours training only adds to the pressure of their lives. Athletes are trained and exposed to a variety of stressors in training and competition contexts, and this stress increases as does the level of competition. Sports put athletes into many challanging situations that athletes may perceieve as stressful; these include performance slumps, defeat, overcoming challanges, injuries, and preforming in critical competitions. Athletes across all levels invest considerable determination, time, and effort into perfecting their craft; the results of their performances can have profound consequences on both their future athletic careers and lives. Do sports relieve or add to an athlete’s stress levels?

Due to their environment, adolescents often experience heavy stress levels. (Britton, D. et al.) As a means to help manage youth stress, medical professionals have promoted exercise such as team sports. Exercise and other physical activity, sports included, produce endorphins. These chemicals in the brain act as a natural stress reliever as they have positive effects on mood states. (Mikkelsen et al.) It has also been shown that individuals who participate in youth sports later in life experience less stress from job stress. Sport involvement has the capability to further improve the psychological characteristics beneficial to coping with work tensions. (Yang et al.) Sports have highs and lows that develop one’s resilience and ability to handle and overcome barriers and stressors.

Participation is not necessarily a cure-all as it is found to also be highly stressful to adolescents in situations as well. The results of this stress is apparent in the high youth athletes dropout and burnout rates within their sport. Females and athletes with higher practice times are even more prone to fall victim to these stressors. (Britton, D et al.) Competitive environments are breeding grounds for pressure to succeed among its participants. Some believe youth sports have become too serious and too adult driven. This increases the constant need of the youth to be validated from not only their coaches, but their parents as well. Fear of failure causes psychological stress among athletes that extends past the out of bounds line on the court, leading to less happiness and enjoyment in life. (Gustafsson et al.)

Coaching Youth Sports: Beyond Winning and Losing

As many athletes know, your life revolves around perfecting your craft; from countless hours of practice, training, and games, this mere passion becomes your life as you know it. The sport becomes so much more than a game, as the gym becomes their home away from home, their teammates become family, and more importantly, the coaches become their parents who inevitably will raise and shape the athletes. On and off the court, there’s no doubt that coaches hold a strong level of impact in these young athletes in the most influential time in their lives.

The youth coach position is not just a slot to be filled, it is an opportunity to impact young lives. Looking back on my own athletic career, my coaches were the most significant authoritative figures in my adolescent years. Some made little impact, some made a negative impact and some made a lasting positive impact.

Performance on the Field vs. in the Classroom

Playing a sport is something that requires many hours of practice and dedication which can take away from other things such as a persons studies. Because of the time needed to focus on a sport some students start to fall behind in their academics. What link is there between sport participation and academic performance?

With the pros and cons of youth sports being more than just physical, who’s to decide if they’re worth the risks? We should all be aware of the psychological risks that come with sport participation while reinforcing the positives. Sports are supposed to be fun; When it stops becoming fun and has the potential to harm the participants, it’s time to shift gears and reevaluate a new game plan. However, if the young athlete is having fun, I believe the rewards can last a lifetime. We are now left with the million dollar question: Do youth competitive sports overwhelm the childhood experience or enhance it?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website says regular physical activity in adolescence improves strength and endurance, helps build healthy bones and muscles, helps control weight, cuts anxiety and stress, boosts self-esteem and may improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Researchers found that teens involved in sports had higher grade-point averages, and were more prepared to pursue future goals. ‘Teens who participated in sports, school involvement activities and academic clubs also were more likely to be enrolled full-time in college at age 21,’ said University of Michigan psychologist Jacquelynne Eccles, one of the authors of a report on the study. A 2012 Dutch study had similar outcomes. A review of the study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine said it ‘suggests there is a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance.’

Experts are split on whether sports have a positive or a negative impact on teens. One Michigan State University study pointed out that students who play sports develop a strong bond with their teammates, suggesting that sports play an integral role in teaching young people how to communicate. Another study by West Virginia University found that girls who play sports feel significantly more satisfied with their lives than girls who don’t. But many experts believe that sports can be linked to aggressive behavior. Athletic youth that can’t reach goals that are expected of they may feel angry, alienated and can eventually become aggressive, according to HelpingPsychology.com.

Teens who were involved in other activities, like church and pro-social activities were more protected from developing these behaviors. In a 2009 study, researchers examined survey responses from 13,000 high school students concerning unhealthy behaviors and found that young men who participated in sports were more likely to engage in risky behaviors than those who did not. Young women who were surveyed, however, had lower rates of marijuana use, drinking and depression. (Fidler, 2017)

Physical Benefits

Children who play sports are more likely to be physically fit, have a healthy weight and maintain a better body image. A healthy body contributes to a healthy mind, and regular exercise contributes to overall physical and mental health. Competitive sports require discipline and focus from children, especially as they grow older. A child who can keep her body focused on the sport may also have an easier time focusing her mind on school work.

Mental Benefits

Competitive sports are challenging for youth. They require kids and teens to cooperate, competes in a sportsmanlike way, use strategy and communicate with one another. All of these attitudes can be developed through playing sports. According to the University of Florida Extension, youth sports can enhance a child’s emotional and mental development, helping him to mature at a steady and accelerated rate. The mental benefits of playing youth sports can last for a lifetime.

Social Benefits

Youth who play sports form a circle of social acquaintances. They will become better able to make friends, socialize with others and respond in constructive ways to conflict. Competition is a situation in which conflict and problems inevitably arise, and children who play sports are more likely to handle conflict in positive ways. Communication is a major part of competitive sports, and students who learn to communicate play and react more positively. (Richards, 2017)

1. Improved Physical Health.

We all know the benefits of exercise to physical health. Sadly, most kids don’t manage to get the amount of activity recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services (60 minutes per day of moderate or vigorous activity). An unfit adolescent is more likely to have greater amounts of body fat, higher chances of cardiovascular and other metabolic disease, and less healthy bones than those who exercise regularly. Additionally, regular exercise can also keep inflammation (a risk factor of chronic disease) at bay. By participating in competitive athletics adolescents can experience the health benefits as well as build a foundation of good exercise habits for the future. Ultimately, the benefits of team sport participation throughout your teen’s adolescence can last them a lifetime.

2. Athletes Accelerate in Academics.

Just before reaching middle adolescence, teens tend to drop off sports teams and focus on other pursuits. The focus on academics intensifies in preparation for university. This shift often leads to the drop-out of sports related activities in high school. After all, the stereotype of a “dumb-jock” has always been prevalent in sports, especially in recent years. It’s a stereotype that has been difficult to shed, and is often perpetuated by the mainstream media. Most recently it was highlighted by Ryan Lochte’s reality show “What Would Ryan Lochte Do.” Is this really what all successful athletes look like? The answer is a resounding NO. Even though we hear more about the stand outs like Lochte, on the other end of the spectrum are athletes such as the “Harvard Quarterback”, Ryan Fitzpatrick, or basketball player, Pau Gasol, who put medical school on hold to play professional basketball. Furthermore, recent research on the neurological benefits has demonstrated the brain enhancing benefits of exercise that works at the cellular level resulting in enhanced brain-power. In contrast to the dumb-jock stereotype, being involved in sports can not only help cognitive performance but also lead to improved academic functioning.

3. Mental Health Benefits.

As a psychologist I’m not alone in prescribing exercise to enhance treatment goals. It is known that regular exercise has many positive effects. First of all, exercise results in overall improved psychosocial health. Specifically, athletes experience lower levels of depression and anxiety than their non-athlete counterparts. Team sports demonstrate even more benefits than more solitary activities. Some researchers speculate that it is due to the social aspect of being on a team. Others go so far to highlight the importance of adolescents’ participation in team sports suggesting it is essential for their development in the social realm. Interestingly researchers have found that children who participate on team sports are more socially advanced than their non-sports participating peers. Sports involvement promotes mentorship relationships and also provides adolescents many opportunities to navigate various (sometimes complex) social situations, be decisive and work as a member of a team. It results in adolescents who are more competent, decisive, better at managing their time whilst providing teens with a sense of community and belonging.

The dark side of competitive athletics can lead to adolescents to experience some negative social interactions especially when the focus is on solely on winning. While it is true that losing can be hard (and frustrating!) for adolescents and parents alike, it is the yin of the yang.

Learning to lose is just as important as learning to win. Not all teens can be the very best at their sport, and being the best should not be the purpose of participation. Competition is tough. Despite this, athletic involvement acts in a protective capacity; adolescents who engage regularly in sports, tend to understand themselves better and are best able to set limits and boundaries, when considering children’s overall social and emotional experience.

4. Nothing worthwhile in life comes easily.

In order to experience personal satisfaction, a deeper form of success, your teen must learn that working hard, prioritizing, sacrifice, and follow-through will help them reach their goals. These attributes are part of the athletic framework and fundamental to experiencing success not only in sports, but also in academics and beyond. By encouraging and supporting your teen’s participation in competitive sports, parents are teaching them persistence, tenacity, or what Angela Ducksworth, PhD, calls Grit. Adolescents can practice and ultimately attain grit through the habits developed in competitive team sports: working hard, often for little or no recognition and learning to tolerate frustration. Participation on an athletic team also provides teens the opportunity to work alongside people better than them and others who might not be (but are inspiring none-the-less) and model the tenacious personality trait (think Rudy Ruettiger). Learning to work hard in sports and tolerate the natural ups and downs of athletics, can support the development grit. Furthermore, as this trait is developed, according to Dr. Ducksworth, adolescents become more resilient across domains and have a better capacity to cope with everyday life stressors. (Olszewski, 2017)

1. You’ll be healthier.

Sports require you to move your body, and it’s a commonly known fact that exercise is good for your health. According to the Mayo Clinic, physical activity helps control weight, combats health conditions and diseases, improves mood, boosts energy and promotes better sleep. The health advantages of participating in a sport far outweigh the dangers of actual injury.

2. You’ll be smarter.

Many studies reveal that playing sports can actually boost your brainpower. A report from the Institute of Medicine stated: Children who are more active show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed, and perform better on standardized academic tests than children who are less active. This shouldn’t be too surprising as exercise increases blood flow to the brain, and blood flow to the brain stimulates brain growth. Plus, playing a sport actually does require you to think on your feet and strategize, keeping your mind sharp and alert.

3. You’ll learn teamwork and sportsmanship.

In sports, individuals learn to rely on each other and motivate one another to accomplish a common goal. Though individual sports are great, team sports actually do teach you a life lesson: the success of a team — or an organization — depends on how well the players work together. Not even the “star” player can win the game alone.

Sports also teach you to play fairly and to respect the players on the opposing team. Cheating, gloating and fighting do not belong in sports — or in the professional world for that matter. Sports teach you to put forth your best effort and exhibit honorable behavior whether you win or lose a game.

4. You’ll make friends.

When you join a sports team, you will inevitably make friends. Because teammates share so many fun and exciting moments, your friendships should last long after you finish playing. There is also one more perk: most teams traditionally go out to eat after a game!

5. You’ll learn to focus and manage your time.

Sports require time and commitment, but most players usually perform better in school and are more likely to be involved in clubs or community service. How is this possible? Playing a sport requires teenagers to develop two important skills: focus and time management. Focus and time management are crucial traits in people who get things done and accomplish their short and long-term goals.

6. You’ll strengthen your college resume.

Though it should not be the main reason to join a sport, it’s a fact that colleges and universities do favor applicants who are well-rounded. Playing a sport will not only pad your resume, it will usually tell the admissions counselor that you are disciplined, confident and work well with others. It may say that you have more than student potential … you have leadership potential.

7. You’ll have an advantage in the workplace.

Not all people who play sports are “dumb jocks.” In fact, there are studies indicating that girls and boys who played sports are more likely to land higher-status jobs than those who did not. According to a study from Cornell University, teenagers who played sports developed stronger leadership skills, worked better in teams and demonstrated more confidence. The study also stated: “Participation in competitive youth sports ‘spills over’ to occupationally advantageous traits that persist across a person’s life.” (Compton & Atkinson, n.d.)