Sports team participation and pressures on academic achievement of African American high school students

The study aimed at whether sports participation and demographic characteristics influence academic performance and how sports participation and students' and parental pressure to academic achievement influence academic performance among African American high school students. The results revealed two-thirds of students participated in sports team programs and the interaction effect of sports team participation and parental pressure in combination influenced high school students' academic performance in the collected sample. The finding suggests administrators, coaches, and teachers can recognize the relationships and can apply appropriate programs to support students. Furthermore, it lays the foundation for future work on establishing a better way to balance sports participation and academic achievement by controlling the pressure students place on themselves and receive from their parents.