The Point of High School Athletics

This game came at the end of a long season for both teams. Each team had worked hard to get to this point. They had suffered through bad-weather games, difficult field conditions and outstanding opponents. Through it all, these teams had managed to find ways to win. And then they found themselves on a soccer pitch with one game left to play. A game for a championship.

One team won. One team lost.

Wise Spending?

The majority of high school teams across Michigan end each of their sports seasons with a loss. Only one team in each division ends its season with players jumping into the arms of their teammates, exulting in winning a state championship. High hopes, expectations, opportunities — every team save one can look back on the season and wonder what might have been.

If championships are the only reason to field teams, then clearly most high school programs fail. Yet is that the point of high school athletics?

Yes, at times there is an overemphasis on winning. Adults who are in charge of high school athletics act irresponsibly, trying to win no matter what the cost. They run practices when they shouldn’t, recruit players when they shouldn’t and ignore low grades, all in an attempt to win.

Parents complain about coaches. Coaches complain about parents. Student-athletes exhibit bad behavior, sending inappropriate tweets, acting with a sense of entitlement, believing athletic glory is a counter to an unwillingness to study.

Then there’s the financial cost associated with high school athletics. In our school district, we spend just over 1 percent of our annual operating budget on athletics — that’s more than $1 million that we have chosen to invest in high school athletics because we believe the cost is justified.

Couldn’t that money be more wisely and prudently spent on programs with a direct and measurable impact in classrooms?

A Valuable Return

I believe the costs are justified because public school athletic programs provide a return on invested dollars in immeasurable ways beyond dollars and cents.

Because we vet coaches and screen volunteers, public school athletic programs attract parents to our districts, bringing in much-needed revenue, supporting the educational outcomes we are trying to achieve and providing safe environments.

We invest money in our schools to create environments that engage students, that draw them into the experience. Athletics provides that hook, helping us capture the minds and hearts of students and increasing their commitment to our school and to the students and staff in the school.

If we are serious about teaching lessons that have value outside of the classroom, the athletics in which our students compete provide those opportunities. In the afterglow of the championship or in the crushing sadness of defeat, student-athletes learn that success is difficult to achieve and not guaranteed. They learn about effort, commitment, teamwork, collaboration, sacrifice and hard work.

Lessons That Last

Lessons like these do not come from books. They require that we work hard, get dirty and sweat alongside neighbors and friends.

High school athletic programs cost time and money. They require space and maintenance. But those costs, both tangible and abstract, are worth our investment.

I have seen it on the faces of the athletes in my district as they have embraced after a game, encouraged one another at practice and struggled to complete training. Athletics is a piece of a larger puzzle that makes up public education.