O’Neill, Maureen, et al. “Student-Athletes in My Classroom: Australian Teachers’ Perspectives of the Problems Faced by Student-Athletes Balancing School and Sport.” Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 42, no. 9, Sept. 2017, pp. 160–78, doi:10.14221/ajte.2017v42n9.10.

O’Neill et al. empirical research give a different view regarding the academic performance of athletes. In this case, it showcases that the student-athletes can perform exceedingly well in their academics with proper support. Notably, O’Neill et al.’s research was based on a large project of highly performing school athletes. The study was based on nineteen research participants, where 12 were females, and 7 were males. The research participants were internationally ranked athletes, although from various sporting activities. Also, ten parents, ten caregivers, and ten teachers got interviewed. To ensure that the research was conducted within the requisite ethical standards, approval got obtained from the ethics committee of institution research. 

The findings obtained from this research showcase that the young athletes missed their lecture time to either train or attended their competitive tournaments, thus adding pressure to catch up with their academics when they resumed school. For instance, one of the research participants averred that the elite athletes experienced trouble maintaining commendable grades since much time was spent in their selection camps. Further, this research demonstrated that the student’s connectedness was adversely affected as they would have challenges with their peer and school relationships. Further, it remained essential to appreciate that the classroom dynamics and the school culture were also negatively affected, hence poor, strong connection with their peers. 

Most importantly, this research was a combination of the problems and some of the most feasible solutions that would address the students’ problem. In this respect, technological aids to enable the student’s keep abreast with the learning process were noted to be helpful. The research identified programs such as Twitter and Skype through which the lecturers uploaded educational materials. The teachers who participated in the research process averred that populating the athlete students’ intranet with educational materials to support them while they traveled away from their respective learning institutions was a helpful strategy. Notably, some institutions furnished the student-athletes with tablets to keep abreast with the academic syllabus and complete their assignments. 

Ultimately, this empirical research will help underpin the various support strategies that the learning institutions could adopt to improve student-athletes’ academic grades. Accordingly, this research will establish a good commencement point to discuss both the issues and some of the strategies that have been adopted to alleviate poor performance by student-athletes. It will also form a good basis for suggesting recommended strategies to the policymakers on the need to offer junior teachers proper training to understand the dynamics of a student who get involved in extracurricular activities.