Back to School: what being a student-athlete can mean outside of sports

• Dan Gould, former director of the institute for the study of youth sports, says sports have a lot of potential life benefits.
• The Grand Ledge girls golf team is starting there season, hoping to return to the state tournament.
• Watch the video above to see the benefit sports has for Student-Athletes.
  (The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

Athletes here in Grand Ledge are preparing for the season ahead.....
"I'm looking forward to hopefully our team going back to the state finals this year." Said Isabel Kelly, Senior Golfer, Grand Ledge.

WATCH VIDEO: Standout Student and Golfer, Isabel Kelly hopes to play golf into college.

And experts say the benefits of being a student athlete go past wins and losses, or just being on the course.

Dan Gould is the former director of the institute for the study of youth sports.

He says that benefits can be seen in the classroom as well.

"Sport tends to better connect kids to school, so that can help them academically they may attend more in season, with a really good coach will be talking about academics and may even have the set some academic goals." Said Gould.

But success doesn't come easy, something Gould emphasized is a big help toward greater mental strength.

"A big one now that people forget, is kids learn how to fail, we're over protecting kids today and their not going to learn how to cope unless they experience some failure and it sound funny because we want kids to have a positive experience but if they have disappointment and they can learn how to work through it that can help them later in life." Said Gould.

WATCH VIDEO: Gould on bringing skills outside of sports and into real life situations.

Back at the Grand Ledge Country club, these challenges are something senior golfer Isabel Kelly, is familiar with.

"I feel like its really easy to get down on yourself, so just being able to come back from that and have a good round even after hitting a bad shot, It's important and it's hard to do and it's something I'm still working on but I've gotten better at it." Said Kelly.

Head coach Jeff Miller also says sports can also bring social skills.

"I Think it gives them an opportunity to come out of a comfort zone, they have to learn how to interact with people that they don't know." Said Miller.

And to achieve success Gould recommends Goal setting, but to do it realistically.

"I always tell kids how do you eat an elephant?, One bite at a time, how do you get to an ultimate goal, you set mini goals." Said Gould.

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