The news out of Westminster College in Salt Lake City was loud and clear after the Sochi Olympics. 23 of the US Olympians were also enrolled at Westminster, including five medalists. The question arises: is their any connection between academic pursuits and athletic success? The two activities appear disparate, but I have looked at some of the data and it appears a positive relationship could exist.
I started in the alpine racing world and compared the 2013-2014 US Ski Team B, C and D team rosters with the 2014-2015 B, C and D team rosters. I worked to compare team members that stayed on or moved up from their team level with those team members that moved down a level or dropped from the team. (I didn’t include A team member as that group only has one athlete younger than 24 years old.)
Here are the numbers:
- 19 B/C/D alpine team members took at least one college class last year.
- 11 or 58% of those 19 athletes moved up or stayed on their team level.
- 22 B/C/D alpine team members did not take a college class last year.
- 9 or 41% of those 22 athletes moved up or stayed on their team level.
Let’s repeat: 58% of those taking college classes moved up or at least stayed on their team level, whereas only 41% of those not taking college classes moved up or stayed on their team level.
This one look would not stand up to scientific scrutiny and is just a one-year sample, BUT the numbers are a good conversation starter. In addition to the data those medalists talk anecdotally about how college classes bring important balance to their life. Is taking a college class a positive factor in athletic performance? Chime in and let us know what you think.
I will report on the other disciplines in the next post.