Seriously, there's nothing inherently valuable about getting a round object of some sort into a net of some sort. There aren't many moments in life I can think of that hinged upon the ability to catch a ball. I'm impressed by folks that can do these things well, but I can't say I understand the amount of money those skills can earn.
I'm not a pure utilitarian. "Because I like to" is a fine justification for most things people do. The more things that brings joy into the world the better. However, anything to which we devote this much time, attention, and resources makes it worth asking now and then "Why, again, are we doing this?" Especially when we're talking about education. It's the time, attention, and resources of schools that are my focus here.
My perspective is that of a teacher. I have limited time in a school year, in a unit, in a lesson. What are the important concepts to cover? What are important skills to master? What are the important habits to encourage? If I devote lesson time to something, students need to know there's a reason behind it. Similarly, if my school devotes resources to sports teams via salaries and scholarships, or if my city devotes resources to sports teams via tax incentives and stadium deals, I want to know there's a good reason behind it.
I'm not an athlete, but I like sports. I played soccer, tennis, and volleyball as a kid. I was emotionally involved with the Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers as a teenager. The Pirates loss to the Braves in 1992 felt like how Mom described JFK's assassination. The Penguins Stanley Cup teams motivated me to buy quite a few jerseys, hats, and merchandise. As an adult, Steelers games Penguins games were a main source of social interaction for a large group of friends. When I moved overseas, one thing that kept me feeling like an outsider was my lack of passion for and understanding of the local sports. Finding groups with whom to play softball and volleyball brought me a lot of joy and a social circle outside of work. On my first day at a new job in Connecticut, a person sought me out simply because he heard I was a Pirates fan, and a friendship bloomed from there. Even last week, I spent a significant portion of my holiday bonus on tickets, parking, and concessions to see the Penguins lose to the Islanders.
Clearly, sports has contributed a lot to my life, and I am not an athlete, nor have I ever been. But, there are pros and cons to everything. I like positivity, so here are the biggest pros to encouraging people to play sports:
- Physical fitness.
- Good diet and exercise routines have more than a few benefits, so this is as good a reason as any.
- Injuries are going to happen, but when surgeries and concussions become too common, I get worried.
- Goal-setting
- People need to learn how to set goals, focus on growth as they progress, and feel a real sense of accomplishment when they earn it.
- Good sportsmanship.
- Fair play. Justice. There's a primal concept. What young kid hasn't said "That's not fair!" Agreeing to a clear set of rules, and holding each other to those rules seems like a good habit to encourage.
- The old Oakland Raiders mantra of "Just win" seems antithetical to that. I tend to think this is one area on which we're not putting nearly enough focus
- Teamwork
- Working together for a common goal. There's another primal concept. "We're all in this together" is an important concept to master, especially in a democracy.
- The professional level of any sport seems to have plenty of examples of people ignoring this particular virtue, but that might be a bad example since those folks are trying to earn a living. Then again, if the pinnacle of any sport shows an abandonment of this virtue, perhaps we're doing it wrong.
- Community-building
- Rooting for your friends to succeed. Realizing that when you are playing for a team, you are representing the community. Done right, that can bring out the best in everyone.
- Pride in one's community is great, but when it turns to hatred of another community, it's defeating the purpose. We need to remember that if we were born in a different city, we'd be wearing different colors.
