The balanced person

I have a conflict about high school and youth sports: What is the proper balance between athletics and study, family, and all the other things a young person does?

In other words, what is the right place of sports in a young person's life?

Right out front, I will state that I am a public school teacher. So I view things through the lens of a teacher.

This is different from the view of a coach, a professional athlete, and other perspectives.

Here is where the conflict comes in: A student should be concentrating on her or his studies in class, to learn, to grow in skills as a young person, and to graduate from high school. The tail should not be wagging the dog--the student having a primary identity as an athlete while in school, in which practicing and playing for a team (or teams) dominate and the student fails to fulfill responsibilities in the classroom.

With professional sports prominent, and now in the age of ESPN sports coverage 24 hours a day, sports is big business. Putting together a highlight video for college recruiters is a big business. (Check listings online.) Having a personal trainer is big business.

I am not against these. The genie will not go back in the bottle. I know that "amateur" athletics will never be the same again, the way they may have been in the 1950's and 60's. I am for young people participating in sports--whether organized sports in teams or intramurals on campus, or informal over-the-line games like we used to play during the summer--because they enjoy them.

If a person doesn't enjoy playing basketball, or playing the clarinet, or doing ballet, they shouldn't be doing it. We can do it because our parent is living vicariously through us. This has happened since time immemorial. Not healthy. That didn't just start with the ESPN age. It's probably more of an issue now.

Sports can provide a healthy outlet for exercise. Sports can be a great place to learn and master skills requiring concentration, persistent practice, and striving for excellence.

I am for students participating in athletics in balance with their studies, family relationships, and personal life (hopefully including a spiritual component--a good grounding for anybody).

I am not for athletes who can help the team win Friday's game having their grades artificially raised to keep them eligible, being allowed to miss class because they're an athlete, and any other abuses of academics, the primary reason schools exist. I have seen kids in junior high receiving special treatment just because they were known as good athletes on campus. I have seen this in high schools. I have heard of this in elementary schools, where a student who was kind of unruly but who was known as a good athlete was not held to the behavior and academic standards other students were held to.

A discussion to be continued.


Copyright 2014 Ed Piper