People involved in sports tend to be more prepared for the real world because sports give athletes confidence, social/team skills,  and accountability skills. Sports train kids to do better in school and on the field, yes, but will ultimately help them develop skills necessary for the workforce.

Sports prepare people to believe in themselves and create good confidence. By playing a sport, student athletes build confidence in themselves which help athletes believe they can do anything. Confidence in sports is necessary, because without confidence athletes will never play to their fullest potential. 

Just like in the real world, confidence is key to achieving maximum potential in the workforce. Without confidence, achieving your dream job may not be possible, so athletes who use their confidence wisely will have advantages in finding better full-time jobs.

For instance, according to The Higher Ed who surveyed college athletes’ post school jobs, 65 percent of former athletes reported full-time employment, and The Atlantic reported earnings of former athletes were 5-15 percent higher wages than students not involved in athletic clubs.  

Sports require teamwork, which helps prepare students to work with new individuals from different backgrounds and develop new social skills. Job life will require social skills, so learning them as a student will be a major help for the real world. 

Students will learn to communicate with a wide variety of other people. A sports team can be composed of many different individuals in varying age brackets, who speak different languages, who are ethnically diverse. 

According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the number of jobs that require important social skills like interpersonal, communications, and management, rose 83% from 49 million to 90 million since 1980 to 2015. Also, a job often requires teamwork, so individuals who have already been part of a team will most likely exceed in working with a team for a job. 

Accountability is important in the workforce and in sports. 

In high-school and college, accountability is crucial for student athletes. For instance, student athletes must be aware of how they behave in school, as well as keeping their grades up to avoid being kicked off the team. This is just like the real world because there are consequences for bad actions/behaviors in the workforce as well, which could be getting fired from a job. 

Athletes need to be responsible and bring all of their necessary gear to practice, as well. I know this first hand from playing football that if a person forgets their gear, there is a consequence for the whole team to do up-downs due to that player’s lack of accountability. 

Accountability is needed in the workforce to make sure employees meet deadlines, work efficiently with co-workers, and answer to their own mistakes. 

 “Being there every week for my teammates is really important to me. It’s about accountability,” said future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning.