Since this is a football site we are just going to talk about football players but could apply to any sport.
Out of all the high schools across the country relatively speaking only a small handful of high school football players even get to play at the college level and even fewer still get to play at the professional level. I haven't exactly looked at the numbers but I know there aren't many players that get to play past high school and fewer that get to play past college.
So I'd like to pose this question and get your responses:
Why is so much emphasis placed on athletics and not as much on academics? Interesting question right? So much emphasis is placed on athletics by the school, parents, fans, etc. I get it sports teaches how to work as a team and sports typically brings in extra money for the school. Let's think about this for a second The University of Alabama for instance wouldn't have half the things they have on campus if it wasn't for the athletic department bringing is millions of dollars a year to the university but that's not all the money they get. It reminds me of a scene in the movie The Program where they are having a meeting about a football player that got caught cheating on a test and they were voting to allow the student to return to the school. One of the professors said the they weren't a football vocational school they were an institute of higher learning.
First and foremost schools are there to teach kids things they need to know to hopefully succeed in life. Without basic math and reading/writing skills people would struggle. Academics should come first before anything else in my opinion. Parents wonder why their kids aren't doing well in school. It's not the teachers fault. They only have so much time in the day and the school year to get what they have to get taught in, It's the responsibility of the parents to help when the kids aren't at school. (I need to do better at this with my daughter) Instead they push their kids to practice practice practice so they can be better at sports.
Go back to the opening paragraph only a small handful of athletes get to continue past high school. Let that sink in for a moment! Help your kid succeed at life not on the ball field or the court. If they are good enough to make it to the professional level once their career is over at least they have something to fall back on, Schools need to quit taking away from the school and making sure the athletic department has everything they need. Don't sink the ship for the sake of just a few.
So tell me your thoughts on this subject. I would love to hear them.
