[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=Russell]
I understand someone with a love of sports wanting to have the privelege of playing and having that be sponsored by the school. That said, I am not sure I see any overiding value in sports and schools going hand in hand to the degree that they do, at any level. Given the way things are, I wouldn’t let my opinions interfere with my kid’s,or any kid’s wishes to particpate either.[/quote]
Russell: What about the values instilled by team sports? Forgetting football, or basketball, or baseball for a second. What about crew? Wrestling? Field hockey?
I never played collegiate sports, but I did play high school sports (football, baseball and wrestling) and those memories are still with me today, along with the lessons I learned about adversity, teamwork and striving for goals. Part of the college experience is the various extracurricular activities you participate in, including sports. If you treat the values instilled by team sports as being part of what makes you a better person, wouldn’t academics and athletics go hand-in-hand? Isn’t the whole point behind the notion of a student-athlete?[/quote]
I know that these are the common arguments but the mixing of sport and school through college doesn’t seem necessary. Only a small minority can be student-athletes and yet everyone else manages to learn how to live. Most those things you mention can an should be learned by children with or without sports. Memories are great. Having the privelege to make them in an academic enviornment as a young adult seems like a gift not a necessity.
