From grueling early morning practice to late afternoon doubles, varsity sports can really take a huge chunk of the time in and outside of school in a student’s week. The hard work put in at this level is equivalent to the effort needed to take multiple AP classes. And just as students in AP classes want to achieve an A, varsity athletes are competing to win, not just participate with the engagement that would give them a “C” in the class. Yet, all P.E. classes are treated as a level course.
Varsity sports should be given AP credit because they fulfill the two defining characteristics of an AP class: they require discipline and demand a major time commitment.
While varsity sports may not be as mentally taxing as traditional AP classes (though they DO require mental toughness), they still mandate as much, if not more, discipline. For every test in an AP class, there is a long game in a varsity sport, often taking the whole day. For every piece of homework in an AP class, there is an hour of outside-of-school practice in a varsity sport. And while sometimes it may be possible to “cram” the night before an AP test or halfheartedly complete some homework on days that just feel “off,” this behavior simply won’t be tolerated in varsity sports. To perform well at games, an athlete must give their best effort in every practice. And the only thing they can cram before a game is carbs, not a bunch of practices that they procrastinated, that should have been done over the span of a couple of months. Often, kids take AP classes for the “GPA,” sometimes not even caring about the class and cheating to get through. Varsity athletes take their sport for the love of the craft and fulfill the purpose of why “AP classes” were even made a thing in the first place: to foster an area of discipline and dedication.
Given this context, it should be no surprise that varsity athletes have to put in loads of time commitment into their sport. High school life already throws homework, extracurriculars, and obligations towards students like free lolli-pops, which already raises sweat and tears among non-athlete students. Varsity athletes have to do just as much in a lot less amount of time. They usually have two choices: either slack off on school and simply not care about the consequences, or try to succeed in sports and school but risk getting burnt out. Teenagers shouldn’t have to struggle with the choice between two options that are equally bad. Making sports an AP class wouldn’t raise stress among athletes for having to take more AP classes, especially if they already have too much on their plate.
Varsity sports should be treated as an AP class because its components are made up of discipline, dedication, and time management, usually to an extent, more than a random AP class forced upon a student. Educators are always exclaiming that “grades” or “academics” aren’t everything, and they highlight the value of being well-rounded. Allowing varsity sports to be treated as an AP credit would turn these claims into actions.
