Sports and Clubs and More

October 22, 2016

My research group chose to focus on the way in which extra curricular activities impact all aspects of the Croft School’s educational experience, including academics, social structure, as well at the culture of the extra curricular activities themselves. Through this research, I have come across various perspectives on the purpose and significance of incorporating extra curricular activities into schools.

Previous studies have looked at the effect of involvement in extracurricular activities on adolescents’ positive youth development. Typically, these studies look at adolescents’ self worth evaluation and self concept. Generally, there is a positive relationship between involvement in extra curricula’s and a students general self worth and concept (Blomfield & Barber, 2011). A study focusing that focused on whether or not this phenomenon has different effects in schools with a low socioeconomic status found that there was a greater positive relationship between extra curricular activities and the positive effects on an adolescents development among schools with children from a predominantly low socioeconomic status household (Blomfield & Barber, 2011). This finding emphasizes the importance of providing students with activities, clubs, and sports outside of the classroom in order to promote they development in a positive way.

A different study focused on the ways in which extra curricular activities enhance a persons human capital, which, in this article, was used to essentially refer to a persons ability to succeed in and graduate from the various levels of schooling. (So many forms of capital, so little time). Assuming the premise that extra curricular activities allow students to develop important skills outside of the classroom is true, these researchers found that involvement in these extra curricular activities correlates to a “1.5 to 2 percent improvement in test scores and a 5 percent improvement in Bachelors degree attainment” (Lipscomb, 2007).

I then looked at the HMC, which stands for “the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference,” which the Croft school is apart of. From what I gather off of their website,the HMC is an association that supports independent institutions. Through supporting these institutions the HMC is also able to instill its values and opinions on the academic process. It’s like another step in the process of being, and maintaining your status as, elite. If you click on over to the page where the extra curricular opportunities are discussed (it can be found as a link stemming from the “why a HMC School?”) you will find the organizations proud declaration that HMC schools, “provide unrivaled co-curricular opportunities enabling children to develop a wide range of talents, skills and abilities” (HMC website). So, the HMC also believes that these activities outside of the classroom enhance one’s potential for success academically and potentially in life in general, as the website claims that “exceptional co-curricular programmes ensures that HMC independent schools are successful and outstanding” (HMC Website). The programs provided are described as “exceptional” and “unrivaled”, as if to suggest that the students success in and out of school will transitively be “exceptional” and “unraveled”. The HMC’s site also mentions the potential for students to develop into professional athletes, even Olympic medalists through their programs and facilities. Differing from that first article I read, in which these sports and clubs were for the purpose of positively supporting an adolescents development, the HMC school would like to put that on steroids in order to foster the eliteness of their clubs and sports.

I figured if I want to potentially analyze a Croft students involvement in extra curricular sports or activities, it would only be fair to do so on myself as well. I like to keep things fair. So, my primary involvement in extra curricular activities, at Colby and also in middle and high school, is sports. Specifically, I run track (read: cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track cause its never ending fun) for Colby, as I did for my high school. In thinking about the ways in which track supported my development (thinking back to high school here when I believe most of my maturing took place) I do think that sports, I am referencing track specifically, allowed me to develop positively, specifically as it increased my self confidence, ability to manage stress, and work collaboratively with a team or authority figure (i.e. my coach) with one goal in mind. As silly as it may seem, relentless training to merely chop off some seconds on the time it takes me run around an oval provided me with confidence in my ability to achieve. In this way, and others, I do see the importance of extra curricular activities as an important factor in a school’s success. Looking at the way in which it boosts my potential human capital, I think the only benefits are from the skills acquired through my participation. Colby College has beautiful facilities and a wonderful coaching staff, and yet we do not emphasize the perfecting of sports, rather the effort and hard work of sports. As a Division 3 school, the focus simply cannot be on being the best. We are not. I am not. How does Colby instill its institutional values, then, into the athletics department? I think that, at Colby, the benefits that come with extra curricular sports and clubs come from the community of that particular activity, and the pride in working towards something you choose in addition to academics. In this way, I can see how Colby’s values are reinforced through athletics.

References:

Blomfield, C.J. & Barber, B.L. J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40: 582. doi:10.1007/s10964-010-9563-0

Lipscomb, S. (2007, August). Secondary school extracurricular involvement and academic achievement: A fixed effects approach. Economics of Education Review, 26(4), 463-474. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2006.02.006

http://www.hmc.org.uk/about-hmc/why-choose-a-hmc-school/co-curricular-opportunities/