Percieved Correlates Of Athletic Participation And Academic Achievement Of Universities Athletes In South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

It is a truism that the participation of athletes in athletics could exert some influence in their academic achievements but a careful balancing of their involvement in the two important activities could reveal some associations. The study determined the relationship between university athletes’ participation in athletics and their academic achievement in south-south, Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey design and was targeted at 156 athletes that were all involved in the study. The instruments for data collection were a 15-item structured questionnaire constructed on a four-point scale and 20-item academic achievement test in Human Kinetics and Health Education. The instruments were validated by three experts. Two in Human Kinetics and health Education and one from Test and Measurement unit of the department of Educational Foundations, University of Calabar. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha reliability method and a coefficient of 0.77 was obtained. Data collected was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) at 0.05 level of significance. It was found out that a significant relationship exists between coach’s role, team mates’ influence and parental support and academic achievement of athletes in the study area. It was recommended among others that coaches should continue to mentor athletes and encourage them to study hard for greater academic achievement.