Junior High Athletes GPA

¶ … junior high school athletes and their grade point averages. The writer addresses why the students only maintain C. averages during eligibility season and what the education field attributes this to. In addition the writer discusses the average GPA nationwide for junior high school athletes. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

Each year the competition to get into a good college becomes tougher. Students across the nation are vying for fewer and fewer spots and one of the ways they have found to gain entry is an athletic scholarship. While the schools are being overwhelmed with superior grade point averages and long resumes of activities, the athletic scholarship is still a bit elusive and requires long-term planning to aim for. Whether the student is planning for an athletic scholarship or simply enjoys playing sports the push to succeed begins in junior high school. Junior high school athletes often have as much pressure to succeed on the team as the high school students do. Junior highs across the nation have rules and regulations that the students must follow if they want to remain on the team and these rules are creating a purposeful "dumbing down" of their GPA's during eligibility time.

The primary motivation for students to hold their GPA's at a low "C" is the often mandated rule about future GPAs. Many school athletic programs have a rule that the student must maintain at least 75% of the GPA that he or she had during the previous grading period. This causes many students concern about putting their GPA high enough that it could be a struggle to maintain it during sports season (Middle School Athletics http://www.new-albany.k12.oh.us/middle/handbook/msathletics.html

ATHLETICS MS. Athletic Director: C. Anderson). This is causing many students to purposely lower their GPA to a "C" so that they will not risk being on the team by having their grades slip during practice and play season.

Eligibility for each grading period is determined by the grades that an athlete receives during the preceding grading period. Semester grade averages and yearly grade averages have no effect on eligibility (Middle School Athletics http://www.new-albany.k12.oh.us/middle/handbook/msathletics.html

ATHLETICS MS. Athletic Director: C. Anderson)."

The insistence by schools on the maintenance of previous GPA's can actually have a negative impact on the student's efforts to perform academically (Nuhn, 1991). The students who wish to make the team and remain on the team work to create a carefully constructed GPA that will let them eligible for the team while not creating a situation where they would have to work hard while playing ball.

Comparison Of The Educational Performances Of Athletes (http://www.nationalforum.com/WHITLYaer10e3.html)

The average GPA of junior high school athletes can be extrapolated by taking research from the study conducted in North Carolina and multiplying it out (Sports, 2003).

The average GPA of the students who played sports in this study hovered at an approximate 3.0. This can be credited to the overall efforts of the students year round with a dip during eligibility season for the purpose of qualification safety (Sports, 2003).