As the flowers begin to bloom, spring sports teams are flourishing, and the pressure is on for athletes; maintaining grades, making time to study on top of daily two-hour practices, keeping attendance perfect and fighting relentlessly against academic and athletic burnout. The challenge sounds tedious and stern when presented, but when MCPS’ student-athlete regulations are evaluated with the slightest bit of attentiveness, it becomes clear that we’ve all been deceived.
In line with MCPS’ infamous illusion of rigor, the expectations and requirements held for student-athletes can hardly be seen as a challenge. Though extracurriculars (especially those promoting physical well-being) are highly encouraged, students shouldn’t be able to take on such intense ones without proving that they can maintain themselves academically. The expectations for student-athletes should be heightened, so as to further motivate students towards academic excellence and teach them the complicated, yet principal, life skill of balance.
Like many school systems, MCPS holds some academic standards for its student-athletes. Throughout the season, an athlete must maintain a 2.0 GPA and additionally must be on time to class every day to be eligible to play, both in practices and games. This appears to be a fair standard, but when MCPS’ illusion of academic excellence (primarily as a result of grade inflation) is factored in, this maintenance hardly appears to be a challenge. 80% of WJ students have an unweighted GPA of 3.0 or higher, making a 2.0 a safe and low standard.
After four years of playing both field hockey and lacrosse at WJ, I’ve noticed that more of my teammates struggle with the attendance standard than the GPA standard. I’ve been on a total of eight different WJ rosters, but I’ve only ever seen one of my teammates sit out of a practice due to imperfect attendance – and none due to a GPA. Certainly, every team and student is different, but the eight variations I’ve witnessed have rarely struggled with the county’s student-athlete standards.
It’s also important to consider MCPS’ grade inflation to fully understand just how lenient expectations are. It’s a restless and never-ending debate if the county’s grade inflation helps or hinders students’ preparation for the real world, but the consensus is that MCPS’ expectations are low compared to other school systems. With the general standard already being shallow, the student-athlete expectations only appear even lower, making this opportunity attainable to just about everyone.
As previously mentioned, high school sports allow students to get involved in their school’s community while participating in the important practice of physical activity, and for this reason, students should be interested in getting involved in a student-athlete program. However, the consuming nature of high school sports can take a toll on academic performance, and consequently mental well-being.
As we’ve all heard, “the student in student-athlete comes first,” which is exactly why the county should be putting harsher standards on student-athletes. It’s easy for grades to drop while in season, but the low academic standards for athletes keep many from becoming worried about their grades, and therefore from working to bring grades up.
Whether maintenance or excellence should be the goal for students differs from person to person, but by increasing student-athlete standards, both can occur simultaneously. Raising the county’s eligibility GPA would certainly be a challenge for many student-athletes, but it would force them to work harder in the classroom, breeding well-rounded and successful students.
Balance is one of the most important skills to have in all aspects of life, and we should start training this skill young. Creating a more rigorous standard for student-athletes in MCPS would not only train participants as students and athletes but also as people-further preparing them for life beyond high school.
