How many students at Octorara Middle School do you know that like to play sports? To many students, sports are a big part of their lives. Right now at Octorara Middle School we don’t have the opportunity to play school sports. Yes, sports cost money but there are some advantages to having sports. Some advantages to having school sports are: they keep students focused, reduce teen pregnancy and drug use, students have to pay to play and not as many students would be in the office during the sports season.


When I asked eighth grade student, Zach Taylor if he stays focused in school because of school sports he answered, “ Yes, I do stay focused in school because of school sports because I know I have to have good grades to play.” He also said his grades improved when the school had sports. Like it shows in this student, it shows in others too. They know they need good grades to play so they actually try in school, but when sports are over some students don’t really care about grades. This shows that Octorara Middle School needs sports to keep students’ attention in school.


Research shows that 80% of students that don’t play sports are more likely to become pregnant and get into using drugs. Isn’t this one of the things schools are trying to prevent? We have all these drug free days but they could help this issue by just providing school sports. This year the school so far had only provided the sports field hockey and football. I wouldn’t say field hockey is one of the most popular sports in our district. Last year we also had soccer in the fall which was more popular. From this evidence I could say more students in Octorara Middle School have started using drugs. When we had school sports, practices were everyday after school. Students wouldn’t have the chance to get into drugs if they had something else to do.

This is one of the things I do not get at all about getting rid of school sports. I understand it costs money and everything to be able to have a sport but students pay to play! There may be a little more money needed but we could always have fundraisers. The school could also higher the price to play. For example, last year the price to play a sport was around $30 at Octorara Middle School, this year they could higher it to around $100 if needed to be that high. Another thing the school could consider is finding a coach in the community or at the school to volunteer to coach instead of having to pay them. This might save a good amount of money needed for other things! There are many things the district could do to earn the money to continue the sports program at Octorara Middle School.

One problem that is occurring this year at Octorara Middle School is too many students are getting in trouble and getting sent to the office. This issue would be solved just like the academic problem. For instance, students that play sports know they have to stay out of trouble in order to stay on the team. If we had the same amount of sport choices as last year, not as many students would be in the office. Sports are a big part of most students’ lives. They wouldn’t want one fight or decision to destroy their season. Many students need something to keep them going, make sports the motivation they need.

Octorara Middle School should continue to have sports because they keep students focused, reduce teen pregnancy and drug use, students have to pay to play and not as many students will be in the office during the sports season. Keeping school sports will be helping the school so why don’t we have them? They do cost money but it may be worth it. Now it’s time to start a sport’s revolution!