Opinion
P.E. classes unnecessary for varsity athletes
By Rachel Cooley ’18
March 10, 2016
Tags opinion
I am all for physical education. As a member of the varsity women’s soccer team and the varsity women’s rowing team, I wholeheartedly believe that excersise and sports teach important values and skills that can be carried throughout a person’s life. Physical education has the ability to improve the quality of living by educating people about the importance of nutrition and regular exercise. Students at Hamilton College are required to complete a total of three physical education classes before graduation. There are a wide variety of classes offered, from swimming to racquetball to yoga, and many more.
In addition to rowing for the varsity women’s team, I took a free weights course during my freshman year in the spring and, despite having to trudge over to the gym at nine in the morning between my two classes, I enjoyed it. I learned a couple new exercises and met some really nice people. However, I never actually performed the regimented lifts of the class because I already had a required lift for my varsity sports. Since I was a varsity athlete, I didn’t really participate in the class as fully as the other students did.
Even though I was not totally invested in the class, I partook in physical activity every single day rather than twice a week.
No matter how many sports or how many semesters one hasparticipated in a sport, a varsity athlete is only awarded one physical education credit. Certainly physical education classes take up a good chuck of time, but not as much as even a single varsity sport does. At minimum, in a single week I will spend between 20 and 23 hours dedicated to my sport. This estimation is without consideration for extra sessions, travel time, games or races. In addition, varsity athletes are much more dedicated and committed to physical education and to lifetime fitness than the average gym class student. This is because we spend so much time in our sport preparing and training our bodies to perform at their best in practice and competition.
Sports also teach the same core values and skills that physical education classes do. Varsity athletes truly live the values of teamwork, dedication and hard work every day. In addition to mastering the mental skills that P.E. classes encourage, atheletes also learn most or more of the physical maintenance skills, such as stretching, free weights, aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness, nutrition and physical therapy.
If varsity athletes achieve everything a physical education class does every single day then why are we only rewarded with a single credit? I find that it is a waste of time for a varsity athlete to take a physical education course; it is extremely unfair that we are only rewarded one credit no matter how many semesters we complete competing in our sport.
For a brief second, picture yourself as a freshman novice rower. In the fall, you decided to go out for the team. You went to practice every single day between four and six in the afternoon as well as the lifts in the mornings. After the season, you decided that that sport wasn’t for you. Even though you competed in the fall with your full effort and dedication you will not be awarded a credit. This is because only the spring season in rowing is counted as a credit. This example is similar to my situation; I am only rewarded for one credit for varsity athletics even though I do two sports. Both of these situations are unfair. A person should be rewarded for their hard work and student athletes are some of the hardest working individuals I know. I believe that a varsity athlete should still be required to complete the physical education requirement but should be awarded a single physical education credit per semester of varsity sport played.