1

The Psychosocial Effects of Sports on the Youth.

Wyatt Breaux

College of Health Science, Sam Houston State University

KINE 5372 Youth Fitness

Dr. Matthew Wagner

November 7,2020
 2

The Psychosocial Effects of Sports on Youth.

Throughout the United States and the world children are active through sports and many
different physical activities through out their young life. These activities affect them both
physically and mentally from when they start participating. The gift of sports have given many
children dreams and goals to chase while they mature. Many children dream of becoming
professional sport players throughout their young life., but they do not always realize the
learning potentials that they are exposed to through sports, along with the risk of sports. This
research paper is going to take a deeper look into how sports and physical activities affect the
youth mentally through school and their young life. The effect sports have on the students on
grades, overall behavior in the classroom, confidence, leadership skills, mental strain from
injuries, and the life lessons that are learned from specific sports along with the character traits
some sports build will be revealed.
All children are required to attend schooling, however while children are young, they
should also maintain a physically active lifestyle. It is worrisome to some parent in the
beginning, that when they enroll their children in school sports, how will the many hours of sport
practice effect their grades of their children? Through out the years many researchers have
studied the effects of sports on the youth’s behavior and academic achievements in the
classroom. Through the participation in sports students have a tendency have display more pride
about themselves and how they uphold their school name, this pride increases’ a student’s overall
interest and commitment to the school to have it succeed in sports and inside the classroom. For
the at-risk athletes that do not have much support at home having sports give them an
opportunity to make connections throughout the school and maintain a general self-satisfaction
of attending that school. Through these connections and self-satisfaction it helps them improve
the at risk children’s chances of not becoming a high school dropout(Trudeau & Shephard,
2008). The results of the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent health revealed that
students who were physically active or played sports were more likely to have higher grades than
students not participating in physical activities. It was also discovered that the grades for the
active students were 1.20 times higher in math and 1.21 time higher in English when compared
to those not physically active groups (Trudeau & Shephard, 2008). In another study, it was
reported that there was an immediate increase of one to two percent in math and sciences test
scores when participating in athletic competition regardless of the individuals learning ability
 3

(Hussain et al., 2017). This immediate increase in academic testing and performance can be
positively associated with increased cognitive functioning in the students from the mental and
physical strain caused by physical activity(Trudeau & Shephard, 2008). A second factor that can
play into the increased average GPA among athletes is the fact that many states across the United
States have a minimum grade point average that student have to maintain to stay eligible for
competition. In the state of Louisiana, that minimum high school grade point average is a “C”
average, or a 2.0 average on a 4.0 grading scale(Bonine, 2020). If a student can not maintain this
grade point average they are then removed from the team until their grades return to an
acceptable level. With this culling of students it is bound to have a slight effect on the overall
numbers found in the precious studies.
Students that play sports tend to be more disciplined and able to follow rules a little
better, in association with this school athletes reportedly have been shown to have lower rates of
misconduct at school. This does not mean that youth athletes are perfect angels in school, it just
means that with in the walls of the classroom they have less behavior problems than the other
students. The study that report this did not go into detail about the reasons behind this finding,
but a few of the possibilities that may have caused this result is due to the coaches desired affect
of keeping the students in line through strict discipline on and off the field. Meaning that if a
student athlete got in trouble either with the law or in class, he would have consequences on the
sports field as well as with the other party. The consequences usually involve either extra work
after practice or the athlete having to sit out of a game. This respect for their coaches helps
students to learn to respect authority figures through the many aspects of their lives. When the
athlete has to sit out of a game he is not only letting his coaches down but also his fellow team
mates by being too selfish and not thinking before he acted(Gould et al., 2007). Sports are also a
significant way for student athletes to release psychological stresses coming from school anxiety,
unstable relationships, and family problems (Park et al., 2017). This outlet helps to students
reduce aggressive behavior outside of the sports field, calming his overall outlook on the
situation that caused it. This reduction in aggressive behavior also helps children control their
emotional states in the classroom when they are tempted to misbehave. From controlling their
emotional states to learning how to properly react to certain stimulus, children begin to learn
more about themselves which leads to a confidence boost.
 4

The confidence that sports gives the youth to succeed in school is second to none. This is
especially displayed in athletes that come from low income families. “Some research has shown
the children from low-income families have been characterized as having low self-esteem,
lacking peer acceptance, and suffering from socio-emotional problems of anxiety and depression,
when compared to children from high-income families(Franklin, 2013).” The opportunities that
are provided by many sports give children like these chances to improve their social skills and
status while reducing the chances of them becoming involved in delinquent behaviors such as
drinking and drugs. The hours after school have been considered risky and opportunistic hours
for children. Ideally children would use these hours after school to get their homework done,
hangout with friends or play sports, however if they are idle and have to much time on their
hands they are more likely to partake in riskier behaviors such as violence, smoking, drinking
and substance abuse(Lee et al., 2017). Researchers have reported that an athlete’s ability to
manage their emotions, their physical skills and the understanding of what the athlete was
capable of, was higher than other youths of the same age who did not play sports. The increased
confidence and self-image among these athletes help to bring about more opportunities for these
children to succeed in life. An example of an opportunity would be a high school athlete
receiving a four-year college scholarship for being exceptionally gifted in a sport. This
opportunity would give that student an opportunity to receive a college education while working
it of through the participation of a sport. For athletes that come from low income families or bad
neighborhoods, a college sport scholarship may be their one chance for them to get out of the
small town that they come from and make something special out of their life. The sad part of
athletic scholarships is one mistake could cost the athlete the scholarship that he worked so hard
for. That mistake could be anything from injury to getting arrested but the result would be the
same depression and regret.
The life of an athlete is not for the faint of heart. Many athletes start training at a very
young age to attempt to become elite at their sports pushing themselves way past their physical
and mental breaking points. An example of this extreme situation would be elite female
gymnasts. Typically, professional training for these elite gymnasts start around the ages of five to
seven years old and are considered professionals by the time they are ten years old. The extreme
training these young gymnasts are subjected to place them at a higher risk of both physical and
psychological developmental deficits (Zurc, 2017). When young children are trained too hard it
 5

is very common to start seeing negative consequences. In this case some of the consequences
include, “negative weight control methods, eating disorders, severe physical injuries, corporal
punishment, training/competing with injuries, psychological abuse, lack of time for resting and
leisure activities, adverse effects on their health and development, decreased school performance,
absence from home, lack of social contact with non-athletes, sexual abuse, and substance abuse
(Zurc, 2017).” To have a young athlete reach this point of physical and mental destruction the
level of sport they are training to reach for is much to high for capacity that they currently are
capable of both physically and mentally. This overtraining status is more common among elite
athletes than the common youth athlete, although many elite athletes will never admit to it(Zurc,
2017). The extreme training and exclusion from a normal type of life could also cause depression
and other mental problems.
Along with the overtraining, the mental problems that sports can cause may start out as
any injury that occurs during a competition. Any injury has the potential to cause psychological
trauma to the athlete making them doubt themselves, their self-worth, and their ability to perform
the tasks that are required to them to participate in their sport. An athlete is almost garneted to
have at least one injury through out their career if they play long enough. Whenever that injury
happens, the athlete has a high likely hood that they could go through the five stages of grief.
The athlete will start off with denial, denying that they are hurt saying that they can go back into
the game. After that the athlete will move onto anger, asking why it had to happen to him and
why then. Next comes bargaining. Most of the time the athlete will try to bargain with the
athletic trainer saying if he or her lets that athlete return to play they will be alright, even though
the athlete may not be able to perform even close to what is expected of him. After bargaining,
the next stage is depression. The athlete realizes that he or she is not able continue playing in the
game so, they focus on self-pity and may withdraw and pout on the sidelines. The last stage is
acceptance, the athlete accepts that he is injured, and life must go on (Lynch, 1988). It is made
clear that the athlete has a road of recovery that he needs to follow if he wants to get back on the
field. However, that road is not always the easiest of roads. Depression has the possibility to set
in after any injury with an athlete causing them to have decreased motivation, low energy, a loss
of pleasure, impaired concentration, change in sleep patterns and feelings of worthlessness
(Appaneal et al., 2009). If this were to happen to an athlete that does not have a good support
group around him there is no telling how by this could mentally affect him for life. According to
 6

one study when an athlete is put under larges amounts of stress, pressure, tension or anxiety they
are more likely to be subjected to injury. After they are injured if they are not able to relax and
deal with the stress it is likely that the healing process will be hampered and delayed due to the
mental aspects of the injury (Lynch, 1988).The set backs caused by injuries, help our youth learn
how to pick themselves up after a major obstacle, the resilience that is taught is what will help
carry them through the toughest times in their lives.
Sports injuries to championship games, the life skills that are presented to the youth
through sports are countless. Through a 2017 Korean study, it was shown that it takes two parts
to successfully teach life skills to students through sports. The study was based on having certain
characteristics in the sports program, and on four different categories of focus pertaining to life
lessons. The characteristics of the sports program consisted of coaches having clear goals, a firm
yet structure, and then using specific teaching strategies. The basic life lessons categories fall
into playing well, connecting well, coping well, dreaming well. Through playing well, the
students learned and understood the importance of enjoying physical activities and sports, along
with time management of after school hours. Connecting well focused on the teaching the
importance of communication and teamwork between athletes on the same team. The theme of
coping well, was taught as a life skill that help resolve the stresses, problems, and conflicts a
child’s life. The final focus was dreaming well, this referred to the student’s ability to make
appropriate goals for the immediate future and distant future (Lee et al., 2017). During the weeks
that this study was conducted the life skills that were learned by the students included staying
active, time management, solving problems, coping with stress, the importance of
communication, team work, having specific achievable goals, the ability to learn from one’s
mistakes and successes, and decision making(Lee et al., 2017). This alone, shows that in the right
setting the psychological effects of sports can greatly affect our youths’ future endeavors with
the continuation of skills learned in sports.
Not all sports have the same ability to teach life lessons. One sport that stands apart from
the rest is America’s past time, baseball. “Baseball is a team sport played by individuals for
themselves (Grunke & Martis, 2020).” From this simple quote baseball can be related to life in
general, a person’s life is spent bettering the world around themselves, in order to better his own
life. The concept of a person verses the world, can be depicted in baseball with the help of
others. In baseball you are never alone on the field, but you must make all of your achievements
 7

on your own. This sport also teaches children that it is okay to fail sometimes, if you learn from
your mistakes. Baseball is the only sport that if you fail seven out of ten times that you are still
considered a good performer (Grunke & Martis, 2020). Another lesson that is taught in baseball
is that it is hard to succeed and that you are accountable for your actions. When a child can
understand this, they are then able to continue to grow and work hard with an understanding that
life will not be an easy road to travel but can overcome those adversities. In other sports, like
football one lesson that peak of life is learning discipline and focus to achieve a goal. Discipline
can be taught through many strategies but in one article it was taught through individual
meetings and withholding playing time. While focus was taught with pregame speeches, set
routines, and a structured learning environment (Gould et al., 2007). Through discipline and
focus many athletes can continue to improve in all aspects of life from studying to working out
to working on the farm with the family.
Of all the life skills that were displayed in the previous study, the skills that improves
one’s ability to become a better leader may just be one of the more important ones. In sports
many of the team captains and leaders, lead by example. A majority of team captions that were
interviewed during a 2006 study, displayed good interpersonal characteristic and skill, high
communication skills, and strong task-oriented behaviors (Extejt & Smith, 2009)). The same
study also reported that these athletes had a higher perception of themselves as socially skilled,
outgoing, confident, and good leaders (Extejt & Smith, 2009)). Some of the qualities of the best
leaders include honesty, ability to delegate, communication, sense of humor, confidence,
commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, and the ability to inspire others (Bachiochi et
al., 2000). While all of these qualities may not be achieved through sports, a fair portion of them
can definitely be refined and enhanced through the many trial’s sports put our youth through. The
research a major component of being a leader comes down to the persons ability to work with
others. In sports to be successful it is a requirement to have a high ability to work with you
fellow athletes towards a common goal. In many sports like baseball, football, and basketball it is
not possible to win a game with only one person. It takes a team that communicates properly, is
committed to playing the game, confident in their abilities to play, and does not let the ebbs and
flow of game get them down. Also it was found that athletes that had influence coaches that were
nice people, genuinely interested in them, engaged the athletes in mature conversations, provided
leadership roles and experiences tended to be more well-rounded leaders outside of the sports
 8

arena(Gould et al., 2007). Although the majority of the article support the relationship between
sports teams participation and leadership skill development, there have been some studies that
has found that sports participation has no general affect on one’s self image, therefore it would
not be necessary for leadership skill development. People have done studies on the topic of
sports and leadership everywhere, so it is not surprising that there is a few studies out there that
go against what the majority of the research says.
Throughout this paper sports and physical activities has the potential to affect all aspects
of a child life, whether it would be good or bad. The positives of sports are that can teach young
people to slowdown their thought process in hectic situations and make calm, collected
decisions. The communication skills and teamwork learned from sports help prepare children for
many potential work environments that hey may have to be a part of. The skills of discipline and
focus learned through sports help many students excel in the classroom, however sports can be a
double edge sword. Once an injury occurs, the student will then have a mental uphill battle to
return to their previous glory. Finally, this paper has shown that through if a youth can participate
and retain the life lessons learned from the sports participated in, they will have a chance to be
successful in life as leaders and law-abiding citizens.
 9

Works cited
Appaneal, R. N., Levine, B. R., Perna, F. M., & Roh, J. L. (2009). Measuring Postinjury
Depression among Male and Female Competitive Athletes. Journal of Sport and Exercise
Psychology, 31(1), 60–76. [Link]
Bachiochi, P. D., O'Connor, M. S., Rogelberg, S. G., & Elder, A. E. (2000). The Qualities of an
Effective Team Leader. Organization Development Journal, 18(1).
[Link]
6_THE_QUALITIES_OF_AN_EFFECTIVE_TEAM_LEADER/links/55cb60a908aebc96
[Link]
Bonine, E. (2020). LHSAA Handbook Cover [Link].
[Link]
Extejt, M. M., & Smith, J. E. (2009). Leadership Development through Sports Team
Participation. Journal of Leadership Education, 8(2), 224–237.
[Link]
Franklin, N. (2013). The Effect of Organized Sports on Academic Achievement and Youth
Development. CMC Senior Theses.
[Link]
Gould, D., Collins, K., Lauer, L., & Chung, Y. (2007). Coaching Life Skills through Football: A
Study of Award Winning High School Coaches. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,
19(1), 16–37. [Link]
Grunke, M., & Martis, S. (2020). The Inclusive Power of Baseball: How a Game Can Help
People With Learning Disabilities Move Away From the Fringes of Society. Insights into
Learning Disabilities, 17(1), 87–97.
Hussain, S., Saeed, M., Abbas, M., & Naz, S. (2017). Effect of Sports Activities on Students’
Development: Investigating Secondary School Students’ Perception . Journal of
Educational Sciences and Research, 4(2).
[Link]
Lee, O., Park, M., Jang, K., & Park, Y. (2017). Life lessons after classes: investigating the
influence of an afterschool sport program on adolescents’ life skills development.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 12(1), 1307060.
[Link]
Lynch, G. P. (1988). Athletic Injuries and the Practicing Sport Psychologist: Practical Guidelines
for Assisting Athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 2(2), 161–167.
[Link]
Park, S., Chiu, W., & Won, D. (2017). Effects of physical education, extracurricular sports
activities, and leisure satisfaction on adolescent aggressive behavior: A latent growth
modeling approach. Plos One, 12(4). [Link]
Trudeau, F., & Shephard, R. J. (2008). Physical education, school physical activity, school sports
and academic performance. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical
Activity, 5(1), 10. [Link]
 10

Zurc, J. (2017). It was worth it– I would do it again!: Phenomenological perspectives on life in
the elite women’s artistic gymnastics. Science of Gymnastics Journal, 9(1), 41–59.