Reply to All Kids Are Gifted, a Sports Metaphor

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I guess you mean that you see NO value at all in athletics?  Again, did you grow up in the United States?[/quote]
Nobody said there was NO value. 
But I do happen to believe that mentoring in academics will actually take one farther in life than sports ever will (unless of course you are a one-in-a-million athlete who will see stardom in sports - you have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning).  Sports is all fine and good when you're young but after that...  think Al Bundy, working in the shoe store, with the sole highlight of his entire life being throwing that touchdown pass in the citywide championship game.  I prefer to be always looking forward to the future rather than looking backward to the past with high school as the pinnacle of life and all else a downhill slide from there.  I did my share of various sports in high school and college and other than bad knees and a host of other injuries I don't particularly have much else to show for it today.  Instead, I got much more out of life thanks to academics and having my brain stimulated.
And it's not as though it's adding something to their lives that they wouldn't likely have had or done anyways.  People are going to run, play soccer, kayak, play softball, play pickup basketball, yoga, rock climb, swim, ski, do mixed martial arts - all kinds of sports - regardless of schools.   Lots of kids end up doing as much or more with sports outside of school than they do in school.[/quote]

Oh, my. There are sooo many benefits that a person can get from being involved in athletics that have nothing to do with being a star or elite athlete! In fact. the majority of sports participants are not planning to be professional athletes. The lessons in teamwork and leadership are invaluable. Colleges like to see kids who have been involved with athletics because they know that these kids have learned to work with teammates toward a larger goal, they know the value of discipline and persistence, and many also learn what it takes to be a good leader of others. Athletics are about so much more than what happens on the field of competition.

It is entirely possible to fund academics and athletics: one does not have to take away from the other. My child was in the GT program, presently goes to TJ and is a varsity athlete. My child is benefiting from funding for both academics and athletics and is developing into an adult who we hope will be capable of contributing to the community in ways developed by experiences in both academics and athletics. [/quote]

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