Pierce College should have a men’s soccer team because it can help students feel more engaged in school and it opens the door to receiving scholarships to big universities.
Most people can remember a time when they were a young child playing soccer with other children at the local park or playing with other classmates during a gym class.
Playing soccer with a school team or for recreational purposes can make people feel as if they are a part of a community.
According to a report from True Sport, they state that people who play sports have higher levels of social support.
Team sports help people build up their communication skills through locker room pep talks before games as words of encouragement are spoken directly towards all the players.
When a time out is called players would discuss the next gameplay strategies going into the next 45 minutes of the game. This even includes the act of non-verbal cues during game time as the players are constantly making eye-contact with each other out on the field during that split second of time trying to determine who to kick the ball to.
Another advantage that students have in being a part of a team sport is the support they can receive from teammates who may be older or younger and can gain advice on how to balance their love of soccer and academics while forming new friendships.
Moreover, according to The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), their research shows that 15 percent of Division 1 student-athletes are first-generation college students.
This is important because two-year colleges can be one way for student-athletes who are looking to transfer to a university on a scholarship continue to play the sport they love and still obtain a good education.
In addition, Pierce has been successful with their women’s soccer team as the lady Brahmas hold an impressive 11 Conference Championships since the team began back in 2011, according to the online women’s soccer homepage on the Pierce website.
It also states that due to the success of women’s soccer at Pierce that the school has become a place where students can develop their skills while still continuing and achieving their academic goals.
On the other hand, students engaging themselves in a team sport helps them stay focused on making sure they are passing their classes.
In other words, schools usually require students to maintain a middle of the road grade point average to continue participating in sports.
Thus, many students begin to take their classes more seriously in fear of getting kicked off the team for poor academic standing.
On the bright side, if Pierce added men’s soccer to their athletic department it will attract the current students who have played soccer back at their high school to enroll at Pierce.
This is because some people who are dedicated soccer players will seek out schools that have a soccer team and decide to enroll in that school just so they can continue to play soccer and attend school concurrently.
Furthermore, Pierce is doing a huge disservice to its athletic department by not having a men’s soccer team because even though they offer kinesiology 289 which is a soccer skills class where students are able to practice their skills as both men and women are enrolled. However, in the end, the men who are passionate about soccer are unable to actually compete against other colleges on a team.
If Pierce introduced a men’s soccer team it will increase their athletic standings against other community colleges and would enhance their athletic department in terms of bringing in more students.
