On September 29th of 2016, we discussed Sport and Education in my "American Sport in the 21st Century" class. We talked about the importance of scholastic sports, specifically those for and against high school sports along with the value of high school sports.
Those for Scholastic Sports believe
- Involves students in activities
- Build Self-Esteem
- Enhance fitness and lifetime participation
- Generate Spirit and Unity
- Promote Support
- Develop and Reward valued skills
Those against Scholastic Sports believe
- Distract attention from academics
- Increase passivity and injuries
- Create superficial and transitory spirit
- Waste Resources
- Create pressure and distorts status system
We also discussed that interscholastic sports are valuable if they
- enable students to be noticed, rewarded, and taken seriously as human beings
- Connect young people with adult advocates in their lives
- Provide occasions to learn things that are applicable beyond sports
Archbishop's Murphy football had outscored opponents by a score of 171-0 in their first three games. The football team has now improved to 6-0 with their three, most recent victories, came because the other schools decided to forfeit the games instead of playing them. Many parents and administrators of the school are concerned about the safety of their student-athletes and kids. Archbishop's Murphy football has six players over 250 pounds, while also have three players over 300 pounds. A parent of an opposing team quoted in the article "My son is 5-8 and weighs 117 pounds and just got out of middle school and just turned 14,". Football is a game that has a tremendous amount of excitment, but at the same is arguably the most dangerous sport. With the amount of physical strength needed to play the sport of football, parents are concerned for the well being of their children. This is a topic of concern, not just for the parents of these schools, but for scholastic sports as a whole. With teams willing to protest games for their own health, I am curious if this could start a trend in the future with high school football.
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| Player of Archbishop Murphy addressing the media about recent forfeits |
The argument against forfeiting is that you are not teaching student athletes the value in competing. The coach for Archbishop's Murphy football team, Jerry Jensen, does not believe forfeiting games is teaching young adults the right principles in life. He goes on to explain how in life you are dealt with adversity and you have to a find way through it. I personally agree with this because with schools forfeiting games, you are showing young adults that it is alright to give up. I understand the risks and concerns parents have, but just because somebody is bigger and has an advantage on paper, does not mean you should forfeit. I believe that sports can be a great life lesson and self worth, despite winning and losing, especially at the high school level.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/10/06/high-school-teams-in-washington-are-forfeiting-rather-than-playing-school-with-nfl-sized-players/ (video in link)
CBS NEWS VIDEO
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