The dictionary defines “sports” as; “an active pastime, a diversion usually involving physical exercise and having a set form and a body of rules”. For the purists, the development of physical skills, an alert mind, concentration, enthusiasm, dedication and teamwork represent the essence of every sport.
Unfortunately, these ideals, like many of our fundamental rights, have ebbed away … falling victim to a combination apathy and usurpation by those with private agendas. Exacerbating this tragedy are sports fanatics who think nothing of trashing their communities in reaction to the fortunes or their professional franchise.
Only last week, we witnessed the third in a series of rampages this year alone … each predictably following the winning of a major sports championship. First in Dallas, then Montreal and now in Chicago, stores were looted, public and private property destroyed, individuals injured and, tragically, even deaths resulted.
But, fan(atic) reaction to the outcomes of sporting events is only one symptom a lost ideal. Other indications of its decay are found on community ball fields, in colleges and at the professional level.
As youngsters take their first swings at a ball mounted on a rubber tee, many coaches and parents are already segregating the “athletes” from their peers … plotting how to use their best players to win.
By middle school, concepts of broad participation and sportsmanship often fall victim to the desire for school supremacy. In many high schools academics is the next sacrifice on the alter of athleticism. Frequently arguing, it’s only sports keeping kids in school, teachers and administrators sometimes permit students who may have become local athletic heroes to move from grade to grade while unable to read or add a column of numbers.
Now, this sportsmania has become a twelve month-a-year phenomenon. Not only does participation on school teams frequently require young people to sacrifice all other co-curricular and community activities … it usually demands extensive practice and game time during school and even summer vacations. When it does, it can be destructive to the stability of the family unit and should cease.
In response to the overemphasis placed on youth team sports and winning, a new coalition has emerged. This alliance of politically correct advocates has launched a crusade to eliminate all activities of a competitive nature. They fail to understand cooperation and competition are not incompatible. Moreover, their “feel-good” anti-competition philosophy fails to teach children how to work with others and how to overcome adversity to succeed in life. One can only hope their influence is minimal and short-lived!.
For all their token changes, many colleges remain dominated by their athletic programs. No athlete should be permitted to spend four or five years in a school’s athletic uniform while failing to pass reasonable standards of academic performance!
Finally, there are the pros … where winning is subordinated only to the whims of the advertisers. In no other American field of endeavor are potential employees denied due process and the ability to seek out and negotiate with firms for whom they’d like to work. But, coddled and protected professional sport’s leagues have carved out a niche whereby aspiring athletes are indentured to employers who draft them in a manner reminiscent of the slave trade of pre Civil War days.
There can be no justification for continuing this system of indenturing young men and women wishing to pursue a career in professional athletics. While a boon for these big businesses, it provides an improper substantiation that sports operates apart from society at large and thereby, perhaps encourages the violence and abuses that sometimes accompanies it.
It’s time to put sports in America back in perspective!
Well run sports programs can produce the physical and mental attributes as well as the sense of sportsmanship, fair play and teamwork so glibly espoused. For each team, the wins will come, as will the losses … both providing valuable lessons for players, coaches and parents, alike. Such should be the goals of community and secondary school programs.
As a high school and college athlete and having coached more than 1,000 youngsters over two decades in a dozen different sports … from T-ball through high school … I know one doesn’t have to teach kids to want to win. Rather, the goal should be to teach and challenge each participant to strive to maximize their God-given skills and abilities … while concurrently encouraging them not to ignore their academic and civic responsibilities or other interests.
In a rational context and properly administered, athletics can be of tremendous value to individuals, as participants and spectators, as well as to the nation’s psyche.
