Why do college sports exist?

[Anonymous]

Serious question. Obviously D1 football and basketball can be moneymakers but beyond that, no. And no D3 sport makes money. My guess is this: there are a lot of jobs associated with it, so it gets sustained institutionally, sort of like the military industrial complex, and just becomes part of the unquestioned fabric of college life.

[Anonymous]

I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

[Anonymous]

Why does anything or anyone exist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

Many kids have zero interest in sports, or actively dislike them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

I wonder what percentage of college athletes play a sport because they want to versus for scholarships or because that is how they were able to get in

[Anonymous]

Agree it is what the students want for a community experience. It’s one of the reasons you see so many kids aiming to go south to the bigger schools there - tailgates, football games, school spirit. I wasn’t an athlete but I had a lot of fun attending school basketball games with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

Many kids have zero interest in sports, or actively dislike them.

And many have interest? And actively like them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

I wonder what percentage of college athletes play a sport because they want to versus for scholarships or because that is how they were able to get in

D3 doesn't have scholarships and you can drop the sport the second you hit campus, yet D3 schools seem to have no trouble fielding teams.

[Anonymous]

"With or without administrative blessings, college students formed athletic associations that included mechanisms for raising money, charging fees, sponsoring events, and selling tickets. And, by the 1890s, at many colleges, alumni groups joined with the student organizations to create formidable programs over which the college presidents and faculty exercised relatively little control. Though college athletics would quickly be dominated by certain sports and by powerful institutions, the outstanding feature of college athletics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was its pervasiveness and diversity across American institutions."

Read more: College Athletics - History Of Athletics In U.S. Colleges And Universities - Sports, Intercollegiate, University, and Football - StateUniversity.com https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1846/College-Athletics-HISTORY-ATHLETICS-IN-U-S-COLLEGES-UNIVERSITIES.html#ixzz8B1Ysw4WP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

I wonder what percentage of college athletes play a sport because they want to versus for scholarships or because that is how they were able to get in

D3 doesn't have scholarships and you can drop the sport the second you hit campus, yet D3 schools seem to have no trouble fielding teams.

So yes, some kids use it as a hook and then drop it. It’s a game.

[Anonymous]

Misplaced priorities.

[Anonymous]

There is a strong relationship between sports and alumni giving. Alumni who played a sport are more likely to donate, and donate more. If the school eliminates that sport, there goes that donation stream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

Many kids have zero interest in sports, or actively dislike them.

My goodness you dolt - you totally missed the point of the post. There are a million other things to do in college besides sports - a capella group, theatre, orchestra, hiking, Step Team, greek life...on and on. Who cares if your kid doesn't like sports. Get a life and get out there !!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question. Obviously D1 football and basketball can be moneymakers but beyond that, no. And no D3 sport makes money. My guess is this: there are a lot of jobs associated with it, so it gets sustained institutionally, sort of like the military industrial complex, and just becomes part of the unquestioned fabric of college life.

sports sell a ton of sweatshirts - $$ for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is because students want and expect it. Schools without sports don’t get as many applicants. I was a D3 athlete and my kid will be a D3 athlete. It is no different than having a theater program, or hiking club. My college actually had a massive outdoors club, with a house in the mountains that must have cost more annually in taxes and insurance than my sport cost the school for a decade. We had a a capella group that toured the nation At competitions and the school paid for all that. What’s the point of those things?

The student experience, that’s what. Same for sports. You probably think it should be done differently, and don’t value it. But I don’t particularly care for orchestral music but I am glad that students who are passionate about it can join them in college.

I wonder what percentage of college athletes play a sport because they want to versus for scholarships or because that is how they were able to get in

D3 doesn't have scholarships and you can drop the sport the second you hit campus, yet D3 schools seem to have no trouble fielding teams.

So yes, some kids use it as a hook and then drop it. It’s a game.

If that was true, the D3 schools would have a lot more trouble playing. None of them seem to. Maybe you don't understand these kids at all?