Black high school students' participation in school-sponsored sports activities: Effects on school engagement and achievement

Myths abound about the role of sports in schooling, particularly for Black student athletes. The literature affords little guidance on the specific re lationship between participation in school-sponsored sports and various out comes for Black adolescents. Using a nationally representative sample, this study examines: (a) the effects of sports participation on various school engagement and student self-evaluative variables, controlling for important background characteristics such as SES and gender; (b) the potential diffe rential effects of sports participation far Black students; and (c) the deg ree to which sports participation affects Black students' academic achievem ent. Sports participation was found to improve the school engagement and ac ademic self-confidence of all student athletes. Moreover, a positive interv ening relationship was found between sports participation and academic achi evement.