Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Since the 1960’s, there has been a debate on whether athletics has an effect on the

student’s academic performance. It became an issue that made a lot of noise now that

some schools are experiencing budget constraints or limitations. Some schools even find

it easy to eliminate athletic programs because they believe that sports are not overly

important in the academic arena. Some people even think that being an athlete only leads

the students to having bad grades, which leads to the phenomenal term “jock”. “Jock” is a

well-known stereotype of athletes in high school and college. The term “jock” has

negatively been associated with the average athlete who seems solely concerned with

athletics, but the name is living up to the academic ambitions of athletes today. Today,

some student-athletes think that they feel like a dumb jock. A survey was conducted in

Yale University’s entire varsity student-athlete population; 33 percent of all

respondents reported that they felt athletes were either not respected by fellow

students. One player of Yale’s varsity teams admitted that she felt like a dumb jock.

During the 1980’s, Holland and Andre (1987) argued that many schools

eliminated some of the extracurricular sports programs based solely on the financial

grounds, without even considering the positive effects of these programs on the student’s

development. Schools should consider studying the impacts of athletics on academics (if

it is positive or negative) before they decide whether to retain or cut them off.

Eppright, Sanfacon, Beck, and Bradley (1997) examined the importance of

athletics during childhood and adolescent development. It was stated that athletics
“encourages the development of leadership skills, self-esteem, muscle development and

overall physical health” (Eppright et al., 1997, p. 71).

Athletic participation, according to Holloway (2002) could help these students

that are at-risk in academic terms. He found that involvement in these activities were

perceived by educators to support those students that are at risk by maintaining,

enhancing, and strengthening the student-school connection. It was also discovered that

athletic participation “reduces the probability of school dropout by approximately forty

percent (Holloway, 2002).

This study aims to find out The Effects of being Part of the Varsity Team in

Volleyball to the Grade (in Mathematics) of the High School Students of Philadelphia

High School in the Academic Year 2017-2018.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to find out if there is an Effect of being Part of the Varsity Team

in Volleyball to the First Semester Grade (in Mathematics) of the High School Students

of Philadelphia High School in the Academic Year 2017-2018.

This study aims to answer the following questions:

 What is the effect of being part of the volleyball varsity team to their grades in the

Mathematics subject?

 What are the factors affecting the grades of the high school students in

Mathematics?

 What is the difference of the Grade in Mathematics between the Junior High

School Students who are in the Volleyball Varsity Team and those who are not.

Statement of the Hypothesis

The purpose of the study is to identify if there is an effect in being part of the

volleyball varsity team to the students’ grades in Mathematics. The researchers limited

the study to only a certain group which is the Volleyball Varsity players of the Junior

High School currently enrolled in Philadelphia High School. Each of the respondents will

given tests to answer, to determine their performance in Mathematics.

Significance of the Study

This study aims to answer if there is an Effect of being Part of the Varsity Team

in Volleyball to the Grade (in Mathematics) of the High School Students of Philadelphia

High School in the Academic Year 2017-2018 and understand the collected data. The

study is also done to give knowledge on what can be done to the students to help them if

they do have difficulties in the subject. The study can also contribute to the school, the

study can be used to their needs of information, clarifications, and solution to the

problem.

Students. This study can be a benefit for the students as this study can help find

out whether being a part the volleyball athletics really affects the students’ academic

performance in math.

Teacher. This study can be a benefit to the teachers. Teachers will have an idea if

the varsity players are learning. Teachers can change their teaching strategies to the

following students who have low grades or are flunking in math.

Parents. Parents can benefit from this study in such way that they would have an

idea whether to allow them to continue in joining the varsity team or not. Parents can be

aware to the results from the test that will be given, and could ask for assistance or

tutoring for their child if ever they feel they need guidance.

School Administrators. School administrators can benefit from this study.

Admins can now develop ways on how to support the varsity players to give benefit to

the students if ever they see a negative effect in the student’s academic performance.
 Future Researchers. Future researcher can benfit our as they can use our study

as a reference to their study

Definition of Term

Conceptual Framework

Pretest Treatment Post-test

• The • The • The

researchers will Researchers Researchers
be using a will compute will arrive with
Purposive test the data with a conclusion
and a the use of in and give their
Mathematics order to statements
test to measure identify if there after
and collect is an effect of computing the
datas for the being part of scores.
research. the Volleyball
Varsity team