Education

Academics, Sports or Both? A Personal Reflection From An Atmospheric Scientist.


As an atmospheric scientist and professor, I mostly write about weather, climate, and science. At times, I tinker with the boundaries of my journalistic “swimlanes” because there are many things on my mind, but I always find a connection back to my core topic.  Last weekend, my family and I binge watched the new season of Last Chance U. It is a show about junior college athletics, redemption, and academics. A core theme of many of the episodes was the struggle for athletic excellence against the backdrop of academic realities. As the father of two K-12 level student-athletes and a former two-sport athlete in high school, I started to reflect on the dynamics of academics and sports as we slogged through all 8 episodes. I offer some personal perspective from multiple experiences.

The author’s letter jacket

Marshall Shepherd

Recently, Dacula High School Head Basketball Coach Byron Wilson invited me to speak to the students at his basketball camp in the metropolitan Atlanta area. I emphasized the importance of academics to the group of elementary, middle school and high school players. I reminded them that they are “student”-athletes. From the lens of maturity, I understand the pathway to success for most student athletes involves academics not sports. According to the NCAA,

Fewer than 2 percent of NCAA student-athletes go on to be professional athletes. In reality, most student-athletes depend on academics to prepare them for life after college. Education is important. There are nearly half a million NCAA student-athletes, and most of them will go pro in something other than sports.

To put it another way, that is 2 out of 100 students. Even with students on Last Chance U, their goal of competing at the “next” collegiate level depended upon meeting certain academic benchmarks.

Speaking to campers at Dacula High School

Coach Byron Wilson

The show portrays the struggles of a few athletes, but it doesn’t highlight that many of the student athletes on the team likely achieved academic benchmarks without much drama. A common narrative in sports journalism is to present the story of athletes from tough family or socio-economic circumstances overcoming their challenges. These stories should be celebrated. It is easy to sit back and negatively judge a student because he or she only sees “sports” as the only way out of a personal circumstance. I have to check myself on this perspective at times. However, more nuanced consideration reveals that personal “marinades” of upbringing, access, and resources are undeniable influences.

Additionally, a study in the Social Science Journal revealed that within certain demographic groups, particularly African American males, there is over-representation in athletics and that is likely related to intentional and aggressive socialization by peers, parents, and support structures. The study concluded with the finding that certain groups overemphasize achievement in athletics over academics. After reading what I just wrote, I encourage you to think about how many Facebook and social media posts you see from parents about touchdowns, dunks, home runs rather than honor roll, AP scores and testing results. I have even observed shaming of parents for posting academic metrics of success while number of yards in the game or points scored is celebrated. Do I have any witnesses?

Academics is critical to success in life and athletics: Source: Getty

Getty

I grew up with a single mother in Canton, Georgia and was always in the yard catching insects in mason jars as a child. After a bee sting revealed a severe allergy, I decided to do my 6th grade science project on weather. That project, “Can A 6th Grader Predict The Weather,” literally changed my life. Years later, I am an atmospheric sciences professor, a past President of the American Meteorological Society, and a former research meteorologist at NASA. While I loved science, I also loved sports. I played every sport as a child but prospered in basketball and tennis. Though lettering in both sports in high school, tennis was the sport that I really excelled in. Here is where the story circles back to circumstances and opportunities.

At that time, the best tennis players were nurtured by camps, academies, and lessons in Florida and other expensive places. My mother is a retired educator and a single parent. I had everything needed to succeed in life, but the reality for me is that those resources were just not available to me. Meteorology was. I chose to forgo sports (at least as a first option) and focus on the physics and calculus-based science that would define my career. My pathway could have been different, but the value of education was always emphasized. And by the way, there are many contemporary student-athletes that have strong mentorship, solid family support, and educational values. I think those stories need to be told too.

Which brings me to my original question. Sports, academics, or both? The answer needs to be academics or both. A 2013 article in the Harvard Political Review points out:

For the 2011-2012 school year, almost 4.5 million boys and about 3.2 million girls—a total of roughly 7.7 million—participated on high school sports teams. This increase from 2010 to 2012 is no outlier; athletic participation has increased for twenty-two consecutive years….While sports participation has risen, American educational rankings in comparison to other countries across the world have troublingly continued to plummet. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, the U.S. walked away with more gold medals than any other country. Yet Americans accept not first but 31st in global math education, 23rd in global science education, and 14th in reading when compared to these global competitors.

John Urschel understood these numbers. He retired from the Baltimore Ravens at age 26 to pursue a doctorate in math from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  He understood that his “way out” did not rely exclusively on sports. As you read this, I hope that it is clear that I am a strong advocate of sports. It builds character, teaches important life skills, conditions the body, and promotes team building or leadership skillsets. My point is that it is important for parents and kids to understand that athletics and academics must work together given the realities of that 2% number aforementioned. And even with the 2% that are able to temporarily make a living playing sports, the prospect of injury, retirement, or a non-renewed contract looms.

From fledgling tennis player to weather-climate expert

Marshall Shepherd and AMHQ





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