Assessing the influence of sports participation on academic achievement of student-athletes of university of education Winneba

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out whether sports participation significantly influence the academic achievement of students-athletes of University of Education, Winneba (UEW). Out of two hundred and fifty (250) student-athletes who participated in the 2012 GUSA games at KNUST, Kumasi, one hundred and twenty–five (125) of them were randomly sampled and their GPA scores compared to an equal number of randomly selected non-student-athletes. Using a two group posttest-only quasi- experimental design with t-test and Chi-square as the statistical techniques, the research sought to respond to two hypotheses; whether academic achievement of student-athletes differs from that of non-student-athletes as a result of their engagement in sporting activities. Analysis of the data collected showed that the academic performance of the student-athletes were not significantly affected as a result of their engagement in sports, It was recommended that universities should institute academic support systems to help alleviate some of the problems that student-athletes encounter as a result of their participation in sports.