Arkansas Governor signs new executive law to protect women.

[Slimshandy]

That's true of different sizes of men in comparison to each other also.

That's why men invented "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicapp ... calculated."

Even if we ignore the fact that handicaps are not utilized in high school, college or professional sports…

Do you think natural born women deserve a higher handicap?

I don't think the challenges of grouping athletes by size and ability are insurmountable, forever.

Does that mean that you believe at some point we will be able to get rid of weight classes in boxing?

How are they going to be able to be overlooked in the future while maintaining a fair sport?

[MonarchMom]

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

[WellPreserved]

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

I agree totally with you but believe that college must be free before we do away with sport scholarships.

I think playing on a college team should be paid in the same way that working in the library or the lab should be paid. College athletics made 13.6 billion in 2022 while paying 3.8 billion in athlete scholarships. It’s a weird and IMO exploitive business.

[Slimshandy]

That would make it so that only the children of affluent adults have a chance of succeeding competitively.

Students coming from underserved communities would effectively be written out of professional sports.

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

[Pjmm]

Honestly I feel if anyone should decide what's fair it's the doctors and the athletes. Not me, since there's little I know. I've heard hormone therapy to female can change your muscle structure, thus causing the trans woman to be equal to cis women. But again Idk and I'm tired of the argument over this very small population. Have the trans treating doctors give the information about hormonal therapies and the athletic coaches decide what's fair. If being trans gives one an unfair advantage then assign sports it by birth S*x. If being trans doesn't give anyone an unfair advantage than frankly Idgaf what they do.

[Pjmm]

That would make it so that only the children of affluent adults have a chance of succeeding competitively.

Students coming from underserved communities would effectively be written out of professional sports.

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

Given the cost of sports I wonder if disadvantaged kids are already written out. I guess there are city leagues that might be inexpensive. Travel teams are horribly expensive and even school sports had a lot of costs, at least in my district. But there are also scholarships and grants kids can get for their education. That's how my son paid for part of his college and he isn't one bit athletic. I personally am tired of colleges making their money on the backs of these kids. I don't think colleges need to get rid of sports but I do think Monarch Mom makes some good points.

[Slimshandy]

That would make it so that only the children of affluent adults have a chance of succeeding competitively.

Students coming from underserved communities would effectively be written out of professional sports.

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

Given the cost of sports I wonder if disadvantaged kids are already written out. I guess there are city leagues that might be inexpensive. Travel teams are horribly expensive and even school sports had a lot of costs, at least in my district. But there are also scholarships and grants kids can get for their education. That's how my son paid for part of his college and he isn't one bit athletic. I personally am tired of colleges making their money on the backs of these kids. I don't think colleges need to get rid of sports but I do think Monarch Mom makes some good points.

Disadvantaged kids can still thrive in the public school sports setting that gets them scholarships to fantastic private colleges they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.

Travel teams / club teams are crazy expensive, but they also don’t always go by talent, a lot of times the teams are made up of whoever was able to pay.

[MonarchMom]

That would make it so that only the children of affluent adults have a chance of succeeding competitively.

Students coming from underserved communities would effectively be written out of professional sports.

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

That can be the case in many places already. Kids who have a family that can afford coaching, travel teams and sports camps outperform those without those advantages.

A better system would be for professional sports organizations to sponsor sports camp admissions and other training opportunities outside of the public school system and scout talent that way. Those who profit the most from the professional sports industry should finance the pipeline. The public is already underwriting stadiums and fields so this industry can make profits.

[Slimshandy]

That would make it so that only the children of affluent adults have a chance of succeeding competitively.

Students coming from underserved communities would effectively be written out of professional sports.

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

That can be the case in many places already. Kids who have a family that can afford coaching, travel teams and sports camps outperform those without those advantages.

A better system would be for professional sports organizations to sponsor sports camp admissions and other training opportunities outside of the public school system and scout talent that way. Those who profit the most from the professional sports industry should finance the pipeline. The public is already underwriting stadiums and fields so this industry can make profits.

Many collegiate athletes are from low-income families and may find it difficult to support themselves while in school. In fact, according to the National College Players Association, 86 percent of college athletes live below the poverty line.

https://spartanecho.org/2023/05/24/the- ... rty%20line.








Getting rid of sports in public schools would decimate underserved community athletes.

[WellPreserved]

That would make it so that only the children of affluent adults have a chance of succeeding competitively.

Students coming from underserved communities would effectively be written out of professional sports.

My unpopular opinion - we should eliminate scholarships for sports. All students in a school should get to play any sport they want. Expand the teams or create more teams to accommodate all. Everyone gets equal time to learn and play if the school is taxpayer funded. If parents want "competitive" teams let them find them outside of schools.

Stop basing scholarships on sports. What has that got to do with education? Expand scholarship opportunities to include leadership, volunteer activity, the arts, and the humanities. Help students develop their own skills and find the post-high school path that suits them best.

Too many kids are shut out of sports. And too many kids get injured, hurt or harassed by team mates. I don't see these competitive teams as a positive experience for most kids. Let's focus our school resources on the kinds of physical education and physical skills that will serve them for life; swimming, golf, yoga, weight training, tennis, martial arts, etc.

That can be the case in many places already. Kids who have a family that can afford coaching, travel teams and sports camps outperform those without those advantages.

A better system would be for professional sports organizations to sponsor sports camp admissions and other training opportunities outside of the public school system and scout talent that way. Those who profit the most from the professional sports industry should finance the pipeline. The public is already underwriting stadiums and fields so this industry can make profits.

If you look at the top high school football teams in my state, the majority are in high income suburbs - one suburban area has 3 top teams. It's the same for basketball - same schools, same suburbs. If you look at the top high school players in the country in both sports, they come from a handful of states/schools and some of the repeat schools are sport prep schools (which in itself is kind of weird). Private corporations such as Dick's Sporting Goods puts a lot of money into these school programs, especially lower income schools, as it sure isn't being covered by local taxes.

I know that recruiting for other sports leans towards higher income public schools, travel teams, and private schools.

Athletic scholarships themselves are really complicated. An athlete is considered to be receiving an athletic scholarship no matter what the amount and NCAA highly regulates how many scholarships in each sport can be offered. I think a lot of people assume if someone has an athletic scholarship, that it's a full-ride but only 1% of college athletes are on full ride athletic scholarships and full rides can only be offered in specific sports (football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and gymnastics). Also, if a student can't perform, their scholarship is usually rescinded. A medium to lower income student who is not on a full ride scholarship is generally going to be living rough and considered living in poverty.

I'm not denying that for a lot of kids and their parents, sport is the only imaginable way out of poverty. It's just incredibly sad and it doesn't have to be that way.