We Are Open!

To adhere to CDC Covid guidelines, masks are required to be worn at all times in our facility.

If you have any questions or need any information about our programs please contact us.

Download our Quarantine Survival Guide

Train For The Game LI
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Rss
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us / Programs
    • Our Staff
  • Membership
  • Classes
  • Testimonials
  • Gallery
    • Our Training Facility
    • Training Videos Gallery
  • Blog
  • Career
  • Contact Us

Researchers have a theory to explain why high-school athletes go on to be successful in life

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Train for the Game LI in Sports Performance No Comments

Playing high-school sports doesn’t just boost your chances of teenage popularity.

In a twist that is either horrifying or reassuring depending on your past, people who played sports in high school may actually go on to have more professional success.

For years, economists have shown that former student athletes go onto earn significantly more than their non-sports-playing peers — between 5% and 15% more, according to research cited by The Atlantic.

Now, a new study, published this month in the “Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies,” suggests a potential explanation for those higher salaries: One-time athletes are seen as having more self-confidence, more self-respect, and better leadership skills than people who pursued other hobbies — yearbook and band, in the case of the study.

“People seem to activate a certain set of expectations with people who’ve played high-school sports,” lead researcher Kevin Kniffin, a professor at Cornell University, tells Business Insider. And notably, those expectations seem to hold whether or not the people doing the evaluations were once athletes themselves. “We’re not reporting that likes are attracting likes,” Kniffin explains. It’s everybody.

Moreover, Kniffin’s research suggests that former athletes seem to live up to those perceptions. Looking at longitudinal data from World War II veterans — men in their 70s, 80s, and 90s at the time of the survey — it appeared that people who played sports did go on to have more high-status careers. Fifty-five years after high school, they earned more than nonathletes, and they were more likely to assume positions in upper management.

And — contrary to certain stereotypes — the former student athletes also gave more money to charity and spent more time volunteering than people who hadn’t played sports.

So does that mean the secret to lifetime achievement is four years of high-school basketball and a side of track? Maybe — but maybe not. “Our study really just scratched the surface,” says Kniffin. Having played high-school sports correlates with future success, but whether your sophomore volleyball career is the reason you make partner has yet to be determined.

People see former athletes as having more self-confidence, more self-respect, and better leadership skills.

As the paper notes, it’s possible that “participation in youth sports might function as a marker for other background traits such as family stability or general mental ability.”

If you played a sport in high school, that means you went to a school that had athletic options, that your family responsibilities left you time to take advantage of them, that you’re reasonably athletic (or willing to play anyway), and that you felt like you’d be reasonably welcome to participate — all factors that could help explain your future success. Sports come with cultural caché, and that could account for the self-confidence boost, too.

Kniffin also points out that while certain qualities — leadership, self-confidence, and self-respect — are associated specifically with athletics, it’s likely that future studies could show “important traits associated with other activities — the discipline that comes along with learning a musical instrument, for example.”

The takeaway here, Kniffin stresses, is not that we all have to play high-school sports, force our children to play high-school sports, and spend the rest of our lives regretting it if we did not play high-school sports.

(Let us take this moment to point out, too, that while a whole bunch of business leaders are one-time athletes, a whole lot aren’t. Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates are known for many things, but their collective athletic prowess is not one of them.)

Still, Kniffin suggests that there’s something unique about athletics — and while there’s more research to be done to investigate a causal relationship between sports and success, he has some theories that could potentially explain the link. “Being part of a team, working intensively with teammates, managing a common resource, and interacting closely with a coach where there’s a common goal” are all potential factors, he says.

Kniffin didn’t look at how different types of sports affect success, but that’s his next project. If crew is the ultimate team sport, then are one-time rowers even better leaders than former track stars?

There’s a lot we still don’t know. But one thing seems clear: For better or worse, what happens in high school doesn’t stay in high school.

re-post from http://www.businessinsider.com/why-athletes-make-good-employees-2015-6

Get Started!

Call (516)809-9700 to schedule an appointment today!

Or visit our Contact Page for email and location information.

Recent Posts

  • 8 HEALTHY TIPS FOR ACTIVE COUPLES ON VALENTINE’S DAY
  • Strength Training for Youth Athletes
  • Meeting Nutrition Needs of Teenage Athlete
  • High Protein Soup Recipes to Keep you Warm and your Stomach Full!
  • New Sports Guidelines for Young Athletes During Covid-19

Categories

  • Coronavirus
  • Motivation
  • Nutrition
  • Performance
  • Sports Performance
  • Strength and Conditioning

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • October 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Latest Tweet

  • Could not fetch Twitter RSS feed.

©2021 Train For The Game LI
545 Bedford Avenue Bellmore NY 11710
Privacy Policy | Log in