​Sports and schools, like hand in glove

Dr. Sandra Comas, of EF Academy New York, describes the skills that are developed through participation in sports...

Sports and schools go together. Athletics offer friendship, shared wins and losses, strength and agility, competition, preparedness and good habit. To learn to work with others, with shared goals, is the essence of a good education.

Coaches often speak about the value of sports for developing strong relationships, and learning about ethics and model behavior. Sportsmanship, so important a life lesson, shows the ability to conduct oneself with respect and moderation, even under pressure. The famous football coach and athlete born in Norway, Knute Rockne, confirmed the importance of fine behavior, learned in sport, in his poignant words, “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” This is education too: learning how to compete with grace.

Sports allow students to share personal experiences in high school, within the safety of a team and coaches who meet regularly. A coach at EF Academy spoke recently of a student who was devastated by a death in the family. The student, supported by the team, decided to train for and play in the next game. His play on the field allowed him a way to respond to his personal loss, and he played his best game ever. Those who were there described this young man as an “unstoppable” force, and a role model who led by example.

There is an everyday life of sport at school. Enter the gym and some people are working out on the machines or playing a pick-up game of basketball. Outside in the green fields there are students, faculty, and staff who are running or walking on the trails. A few students have a ball with them and are kicking it around while laughing. A group of teens is getting together to travel to see one of the school’s teams play at another school. Everyone is happier because of sport at school. It brings people together.

We know that sport helps people to be more confident. There is much emotion in athletics and it is essential to be able to control emotion and learn to use it productively. Young people who learn these lessons later thrive in challenges at school and work, as they have grown more confident by dealing with successes, failures, and the long pathways to both.

Young people learn the significant lessons about the mundane. They learn how to organize their uniforms for the next day, and know which clothes to wear on the field, or in the gym. When does one arrive? At what location? What else may be needed? Players learn the importance of showing up at the right time and right place, in the right uniform and ready to play. What important skills!

Sport is also being part of something bigger than oneself. The team is greater than one person, and it represents the school. The uniforms and transportation bear the name of the school. There may be special schedules for the team on school days when games are played. The team shows the spirit of the school, inspires loyalty, and reveals shared moments.

We have explored a bit of the value of school athletics, mainly centering on the players. Yet we know that in person, on campus, sport is an actively watched event. There is the playing and the watching. To learn how to watch well also employs important skills, like focus and empathy. Focus is necessary to work well, and empathy creates the bonds that drive strong relationships with others. According to psychologist Daniel Goleman, both focus and empathy are essential to leading others.

One of the greatest challenges to students is managing the many changes of their lives. These are changes in family, in location, in friends, in school. A person playing a sport experiences all these changes in the company of others. Everyone experiences changes together; this is part of the life of sport. If you play or have played, you belong, and you will find friends.

Most sports at school are a strong reflection of the prismatic composition of the student body. There is so much opportunity for students from all over the world to meet each other through sport, and work together in shared goals. This is education, an education defined by many cultures.

A coach at EF Academy recently noted that he had a student who was not doing well in class and who was uninspired in after-school activities. The coach encouraged the young woman to play golf, learn the rules of the game, and develop sportsmanship. The student not only became enthusiastic about the sport, achieving unexpected levels, but also became happier and more successful in her studies.

Sports are at the core of an excellent education. They teach and transform us through their lessons, including the value of discipline, sportsmanship, persistence, strength, grace under pressure, and showing up to do one’s best. Sports are fun and let us all enjoy good health, and good effort, together.

About Dr. Sandra Comas

Dr. Sandra Comas earned her Ph.D., Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees from Yale University, Masters Degrees from Stanford University, a Global Executive MBA from IE Business School, and a business teaching credential from Harvard Business School. She has taught at Stanford, Yale, the City University of New York, and IE. Sandra is the Deputy Head of School for Academics at EF Academy New York.

Dr. Sandra Comas is Deputy Head of School for Academics at EF Academy New York


For more information about EF Academy New York, see their profile on International School Search.