Minimum GPA to Play Sports

[daleduke17]

http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/29843.asp (look for cameo appearance by Stedman Graham - hehe).

The Springfield School Board recently put into practice a rule stating that to be eligible to play sports, student athletes will have to now have a 2.0 (C) GPA instead of a 1.5 (C-). Here's the part I find completely ridiculous:

Third paragraph
But some board members questioned the fairness of implementing such a policy so quickly, since students would have to raise their grades in too short a time to play.

Shouldn't academics be the priority over sports? Who cares if they have to raise their grades in a short amount of time. The school year would be starting new anyway. So, the school district pushes the start date of the new GPA requirement until the start of 2nd semester. Why not just start it at the beginning of the year? When January rolls around, I wouldn't be surprised if there was another article stating how the change will be pushed off until the 2009/2010 school year since it would be in the middle of seasons otherwise.

My thoughts on the whole issue: Why is the bar set so low for eligibility? A paltry 2.0. If a student is having a hard time getting a "C" average, they shouldn't even be on any teams. Could this be one of the problems with the United States education system? Ask for only the average, only get the average.

What I would do is have it staggered on GPA:
3.0 - No restrictions.
2.5 - Cannot start games, can be a substitute/relief. Must show improvement in two weeks. Must be at 3.0 in 3 weeks.
2.0 - Cannot dress for games. 2 weeks to get up to a 2.5 or will be dismissed from the team.

Anytime GPA falls under 2.0, automatic dismissal.

I don't care if you are the 2nd coming of Joe Namath, Ted Williams or Michael Jordan. Education is a priority. The fact that the Springfield school board is scaling back the improvment because it may be "too hard" for students just shows that education is being put on the back burner.

Oh, and a funny thing? Springfield HS and Lanphier HS (the two high schools affected) start football in the fall and have big rivalries with Glenwood and Sacred Heart-Griffin (two nearby schools).

[rahmota]

I whole heartedly agree with you. Academics should always be placed before athletics unfortunately in this country academics is generally not regarded as galmourous or exciting as the "sports achievements" of the jocks.

I like your G.P.A. program though I might just make it a clean cut either keep your grades up or you dont even get to bench warm you can sit in the stands with the rest of the non-players.

[Greenday]

Hah. That's nothing. At my high school, the only way you weren't allowed to play in a game because of academics was if you failed two or more classes in one marking period. The really sad part? My freshman year, when our coach asked us to raise our hands if we were in jeopardy of failing two or more classes, only two other kids and I DIDN'T raise our hands out of the whole team.

[Norton]

I agree that academics should take precedence over sports. Perhaps a lack of education is ok for those players who go on to become professionals, but I doubt the majority of highschool and college sports players actually end up being multi-millionaire pros. Without the cushy paycheck for playing pro sports, they need a solid education to fall back on.

[Sylvia727]

While I agree that sports are being held in greater regard than academics, and that student-athletes should be students first and athletes second, holding them to a 3.0 GPA, a B average, sounds too harsh to me. In high school, I knew plenty of people who struggled for a 1.5 or a 2.0, even without sports. And team sports can be a boost for students who are having trouble in other areas, with the companionship and moral support of one's teammates. After all, a C is supposed to be average. Why should athletes have to be better than average students? A 2.0 or possibly a 2.5 sounds fair to me.

While I admire this school for taking the initiative to change their broken system, I deplore their procrastination.

[daleduke17]

Why should athletes have to be better than average students?

They (student-athletes) are putting on a jersey that represents the school district, and even the town. The better the student-athletes look to the opposing schools, academically and athletically, the better the school and town looks.

Plus, it would be a great thing to put into pamphlets about the school district saying that they put an emphasis on education while still being competitive on the playing field.

But, nothing will ever change as the NCAA requires only a 2.0 to be able to play there. How many of the athletes in NCAA football or basketball (the main two sports) sound like they are completely stupid? Also, the professional leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB) don't even require any sort of education outside of a high school diploma. So, if little Timmy sees the big "awesome" NBA player making millions not having an education outside of high school (and barely passing then) why should Timmy have to study?

[Sylvia727]

I can see your point, but I'm thinking of my high school friends who couldn't get above a C average for whatever reason. I'd hate to see them banned. Our attitude as a culture needs to shift away from the glamour of sports. Little Timmy should be on the football field because it's fun and challenging, not because he can get scholarships to big universities and letter jackets make cheerleaders put out. (That's the stereotype fed to our children, not the reality. No offense on my part to athletes or cheerleaders.)

[MystyGlyttyr]

I was always a good student, A+B honor roll until I had to deal with algebra, which I got C's in even though I didn't give a damn to study, so I was never affected by my grades when it came to being a cheerleader or on the athletic teams. But I know we had a few kids who's grades IMPROVED when they were on the team because they had an instant study-group on the game bus and hanging around in the stands while we waited on all the teams to finish their games. Pulling them off dropped their averages from C to D's and F's, and they were shoved back on quickly.

Might be something to look into before moving too hastily, just a thought. I mean, let's face it, not everyone on earth has the potential to be a rocket scientist. I took accounting in college and studied my ass off, cried over my book, etc., and was thrilled to get out of that class with a D, and slept through American History and got A+ every time. Different strokes for different folks, etc.

[DesignFox]

I agree that academics should come first, sports second.

I don't believe that a 3.0 is the answer. I was an outstanding student. I consistently got A's and A+'s even with all my involvement in afterschool activities.

But, as others have pointed out, some students just aren't capable of this. I had a friend in college who was one of them. Even without a ton of extracurriculars, she struggled to keep up her grades. She was a bright girl. She was involved in tutoring programs to help her with her academics. She just couldn't take tests well. So, she was average. And she struggled for her C grades.

I don't believe that people like my friend should be penalized for having average grades.

I agree that a 2.0 or maybe a 2.5 is an acceptable bar to set. And it should be strictly adhered to.

1.5 is a sad standard, and it says a lot about that school's kids if they can't even maintain THAT to stay on the team...

That school needs to get its act together, and shame on them for procrastinating.

[daleduke17]

That school needs to get its act together, and shame on them for procrastinating.

The whole city is screwed up. Schools, city council (see my thread "Lowering Standards" for an example), even the state offices there are screwed up.

[tropicsgoddess]

It's a good thing to play in sports and the fact that it could help some kids land a scholarship or get picked by a scout for a pro or semi pro team draft, but academics still need to be placed above sports. If (god forbid) that something happens and they can't play anymore, they would have their education to fall back on,but besides that point, how can they expect to get into school and succeed with their athletic talent(s) alone. The school boards, NCAA and the colleges can set the requirements for the athletes to be able to perform based on their GPA, but it's up to the parents to help make education a higher priority in their child's life and the child doing the same once they go to college.

[DesignFox]

That's a good point tropics.

I, for one, would not have been allowed to participate in after school activities if my parent's had noticed my grades slipping. It wouldn't matter what the school had to say about it.

Parents SHOULD take a more active interest in their children's academics. Parents SHOULD set the standard and enforce it with their children- but the school should encourage this and also have higher standards. 1.5 should not be acceptable.

[daleduke17]

For some of the people who may have a different grading scale and might not know the one we're talking about here:

A - 4.0
B - 3.0
C - 2.0
C- - 1.5
D - 1.0

A "straight A" student would have a 4.0 GPA.

Percentage wise, different schools have different models, but, here are two scales I know are used a lot:

A: 100-93% or 100-90%
B: 92-85% or 90-80%
C: 84-75% or 80-70%
D: 74-65% or 70-60%
F: 64-0% or 60-0%

So, you only have to pass 70-75% of your classwork to be in sports. Looking at the district 186 handbook online the guidelines are:

- Maintain a 1.5 GPA
- Pass five classes per semester
- Pass five classes weekly

Ok, so, out of eight classes per day, you only have to be passing five of them to be in sports. Pass 63% of your classes with a marking of 75%. Amazingly high standards they have.

[blas87]

I wouldn't limit it to sports.....I'd add cheerleading to that as well (wait, is cheerleading a sport nowadays? I'm getting really old....)

[Greenday]

I wouldn't limit it to sports.....I'd add cheerleading to that as well (wait, is cheerleading a sport nowadays? I'm getting really old....)

Extra-curricular activities. Any and all of them.

[Seshat]

How about this really radical idea: separate sports and school.

Oh, have enough athletics in school for the children to become encouraged to live an active and healthy lifestyle, and to expose them to a wide enough variety of sporting activities that most of them will find something they enjoy.

But separate semi-professional and professional sports from schools and colleges.

It's how many countries do it. Think about UK sports for a moment: are the names that spring to mind names of colleges? Nope, they're names of cities (or regions, or former names of cities or regions).

Australia: the same. Oh, we have minor sports events that are school-based, but they're kiddie stuff and not very big at all. Even our university school-based stuff isn't particularly big, except where the university has a 'human movement' or other sports-activities degree course and an associated Commonwealth/Olympic training school.

It just seems wierd to me to have so much of your professional sports wrapped around your academia. It's got to cause problems!

[DesignFox]

It just seems wierd to me to have so much of your professional sports wrapped around your academia. It's got to cause problems!

It causes more problems than you know! Not only with the grading, but also that not all extra curricular programs get equal share of sponsorship or funding. Sports took the cake. Us drama and marching band kids got the crumbs.

Most of us involved in the art programs were top of our class. Can't say the same for the football jocks...and they got all the money and attention. :rolleyes:

[Greenday]

It causes more problems than you know! Not only with the grading, but also that not all extra curricular programs get equal share of sponsorship or funding. Sports took the cake. Us drama and marching band kids got the crumbs.

Most of us involved in the art programs were top of our class. Can't say the same for the football jocks...and they got all the money and attention. :rolleyes:

My school tried to get rid of the music program all together. No concert band, which was a class that gave me as many credits as my normal classes. Thanks to a mass protest, the school kept the music program. Why do the sports teams get so much funding, yet the music program, with so little funding as it is, is chosen to take the budge cut?

[DesignFox]

I never understood that either, Greenday. And our marching band membership easily outstripped the numbers of kids playing multiple sports.

[daleduke17]

How about this really radical idea: separate sports and school.


I've had that thought before. Currently some of the school districts around here (including the aforementioned District 186) are having budget issues. They talk and talk about cutting back or eliminating almost any extra-curricular activity...EXCEPT sports. The city I live in and the bordering town have several private entities in it that do sports (YWCA, YMCA and Prairie Cities to name a few), so, why not have the kids who want athletics go to those, and pay the necessary fees and leave the schools for the academics?

Also, look at the space a school takes up. I'll use the two high schools Normal has (I live near there, plus both buildings/sites are almost identical). Football field, track (circling football field), soccer field. Not all three of those are needed. Leave an outdoor field for pyhsical education classes, and the rest can become land for the Future Farmers of America or biology classes, room for future growth, etc. But, with the athletic fields taking up room, they won't be able to expand the school in the future (which Normal is growing).

[McDreidel09]

Yeah. It's the same way at my school. Since we aren't that great academically, we rely so much on sports (and we aren't that good anyway. We made State Champs for IL in 2001 and that's it). Sports first, school second, it seems.

Well, I was in Scholastic Bowl,was President of Future Business Leaders of America, on Prom committee, and played Track. Track practice was everyday. I had to run alot,work out, and practice my field events. I had a job and had to help out alot at home because my mom worked two jobs. I paid for all my sports stuff myself. I would still get homework done,even after working and taking care of the house.

Even after all this, I stayed on High Honor Roll.

Oh did I mention that I had an early class, so I was there before everyone else and I stay seventh hour,even though with my early class I could leave early? I was at school for almost twelve hours EVERYDAY.:D