One of the most exciting opportunities at college is the chance to play sports. Students can play sports from volleyball to football and most things in between. Generally teams are broken up by sex and the season runs for about a semester, or around 15 weeks.

There is a full list of SUNY Ulster sports teams on our website, at the bottom of this article, and on your portal. The school’s athletic website can be found here, with all the details to everything SUNY Ulster athletics. In case you didn’t know, our mascot is the beloved Senator Sam, seen above, and all sports teams are known as the SUNY Ulster Senators.

There are plenty of reasons why sports help you stay sharp in mind as well as in body. The mental benefits of sports are numerous; including memory boosting, gaining leadership qualities, and improving self-confidence. There are a few more reasons why athleticism is beneficial to being a student that we’ll go over in more detail; like getting better sleep, reducing stressors, and helping with concentration.

Stress Reducer and Depression Aid

Sports are an all-natural stress reducer that is easily accessible to you and all students. Getting your tension out on a field or a court can be much better than letting it bottle up, or worse, come out in unintentional ways. The brain produces extra serotonin when the body is involved in physical activity. This chemical is known as the happy chemical because it’s most often associated with the good feelings it brings forth. This chemical is complicated and having more of it can positively affect learning, memory, and sleep quality. Exercise and other physical activity will also produce endorphins which can improve the ability to sleep which, in turn, reduces stress.

Athleticism can also reduce depression and is a popular way of managing anxiety disorders, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. A sports player that regularly does conditioning and practice is less likely to suffer mood imbalance. Using working out as a healthy coping mechanism may reduce other unhealthy habits that can lead to more depression. Instead, physically producing those feel good chemicals for yourself can be a positive way of dealing with negative emotion. Compared to other ways of dealing with stress, using exercise to ease symptoms of depression can be the best route to take for a busy student.

Improved Sleep Habits

Though it takes a while to feel the difference, it’s proven that better sleep and regular physical activity are correlated. It makes sense that doing exercise normally can improve your sleep. It does so by increasing the amount of deep sleep you receive. After long periods of regular exercise were added to test subject’s lives, they had more long-wave sleep at night, which is the most restorative form of rest.

Effective rest does the brain good and it’s well known that more sleep is always better for students. A good hard practice session of any sport can be tiring and helpful to get some great sleep! Being well rested can help you remember more and can also prevent bodily stress the next day from being tired.

Concentration & Focus Booster

Getting involved in sports can actually help you focus in the classroom. After children in this study had a daily dose of exercise they showed improved attention spans. Just another one of the ways that physical exercise helps your brain work better. “They became more adept at ignoring distractions, multitasking, and holding and manipulating information in their minds” says neuroscientist Ben Martynoga.

Sports Are For You! Convinced Yet?

Reach out to a coach on campus, find a gym near you, join a self-defense class, or just jump into the next sports season when it starts! There are far fewer ways that sports could do you wrong than how they could improve your life. The benefit of being an athlete is NOT limited to academia, it could improve multiple facets of your life. It can’t hurt to try, that’s for sure!

I realize that sports aren’t for everyone, and that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other outlets you can try. Getting involved in making some kind of art is always a good idea too, see why.

What Sports Opportunities Are Available For You?

SUNY Ulster Senator’s teams include:

• Baseball
• Women’s Basketball
• Men’s Basketball
• Cross Country
• Men’s Golf
• Women’s Soccer
• Men’s Soccer
• Women’s Track and Field
• Women’s Volleyball
• Wrestling

The post How Playing Sports Affects You As A Student appeared first on SUNY Ulster News Blog.

Here at SUNY Ulster, athletic life is both work and play. Just an added bonus being a student in Stone Ridge, all students are encouraged to apply themselves to one of our sports teams. Student athletes have more than doubled in the past three years and there are now eight teams one can join. These activities help students build collaborative and athletic skills that they can carry with them through the rest of their educational journey, and life.

Drum Roll Please…

We just recently released our new athletics page, pretty exciting stuff! Potential students are welcome to check out the new site and use it as a way to apply for the school. Current students are also able to easily find coaches; as a matter of fact, the site has a handy directory of all the athletic staff. So students can find any one of our sports centered staff who are always available to answer any questions you might have.

The new site has all the good stuff: rosters, schedules, game reports and even videos of our hard-working student athletes in action. Game reports and rosters feature biographies of athletes individually so fans can find all the information available about a player right from the stands if they wanted to!

Don’t Forget To Follow Us Everywhere Else Too

If the all that up to date game info doesn’t quite scratch your sports itch; included in the site are links to our various sports social media profiles such as Facebook, Instagram, and more. Where even more player coverage can be found.

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