Abstract

This study, investigating whether sports has a positive impact on students’ academic life’ aims to compare the grade point averages of competing rhythmic gymnasts and 7th grade students not engaged in any branch of sports. The study was conducted with female secondary school students (n=80). The study group was divided into two: The first group (n=40) comprised top 40 rhythmic gymnasts (height: 138.7±2.04 cm and weight: 28.7±1.11 kg) who participated in the Turkish National Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition while the second group (n=40) consisted of students who do not do any sports (height: 145.6±4.44 cm and body weight: (38.9±5.04 kg). The comparison was made based on both groups’ general point averages (GPA) at the end of the year. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the point averages as part of statistical analysis. At the end of the study, it was found that the academic achievement of the rhythmic gymnasts was statistically significantly higher than the sedentary group (p<0.05). In line with the results of the study, the comparison of rhythmic gymnasts with non-sports students revealed that rhythmic gymnasts had better scores in terms of academic achievement. This finding can stem from the fact that regular sports activities enhance mental development in addition to physical development or help to prepare a much more efficient work plan.

Key words: Academic achievement, sports achievement, rhythmic gymnastics.