Sport in high schools and colleges - Essay Example

Sport in high schools and colleges It goes without saying that men sano in corpora sano - intellectual training shall be combined with physical, which forms an all-round man. Educational system tries to implement this principle through different sports programs and activities. High school and college sports enjoy widespread loyalty and respect. But there are growing concerns that it is not immune from the drug abuse and academic scandals that have hit college and pro teams in recent years. There are also concerns about exploitation of young athletes and the increasing incidents of "trash talking" and other displays of poor sportsmanship. Indeed, there are even those who challenge the notion that, if nothing else, high school athletics "builds character" (Worsnop, 1995). The growing number of scandals and lawsuits related to high school and collage sports raise a question if colleges should train professional sportsmen or not and how to do it eliminating different problems, which exist at present in management of sport programs and sport education. Studies reveal the following problems that corrupt college sport competitions: drug, alcohol and sex abuse when recruiting players; cheating on educational performance by student athletes and college authorities to keep players in their teams; injuries and who should take responsibility for them; gender equity; commercialism and corruption in college sport management; exploitation of college athletes; limited opportunities for blacks in college coaching ranks (Price 2004; Worsnop, 1994, 1995). Many studies have been conducted to study the nature of the college sport negative sides and develop some courses of actions to eliminate them. On the basis of those studies the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Knight Commission have been taking different steps in different times to bring order in sport education. Thus, tougher academic standards for student athletes and a certification program for athletics departments were introduced. Though the new academic standards are not always fair to student athletes - in some cases they are required to do more than students not involved in college sport life. Some states adopted no pass - no play policy to enhance academic achievements of student players. With institution of tougher academic standards and new support programs in 1996 graduation rates began improving and more student athletes appeared to earn degrees - in 2002, 62 per cent of Division I athletes who had enrolled six years earlier graduated. (Although the proportions were up in 2003, only 54 percent of Division I-A football players and 44 percent of basketball players graduated (Price, 2004)). Drug use can enhance an athlete's performance as well as impair it and possibly lead to injury. In the case, Vernonia School District v. Acton, student athletes in Oregon were required to take a urine test for amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine at the beginning of the season. In addition, random tests on 10 percent of all student athletes were conducted each week during the season. School officials said they instituted the policy because students were openly boasting of using drugs, and disciplinary problems had increased. But there is still no consensus on whether high school athletes should be subject to random drug testing as a condition for playing interscholastic sports (Worsnop, 1994). College sports has become a $4-billion-a-year enterprise, and the elite football and basketball teams - mostly those in the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern conferences - earn multimillion-dollar profits for their universities (Price, 2004). Here rises a problem - who gets the money and how to distribute it equally between management and players. It was suggested to develop a certification or peer-review program for Division I sports departments. Proponents of peer review say it will keep the college sports reform movement alive by forcing Division I schools to engage in periodic soul-searching. However, it may take years to pass judgment on the program and pronounce the program a success or failure and create enormous amount of expense, paperwork and time for creation and running peer-review programs (Worsnop, 1995). Another suggestion was made to tackle the situation. All funds, raised for college sports, should be channeled into the university's financial system and subjected to the same budgeting procedures applied to similarly structured departments and programs (Worsnop, 1994). Other scholars who studied the matter suggest the opposite - wringing the big money out of college sports and treating intercollegiate athletics as just another extracurricular activity (Price, 2004). It seems that this action would help to overcome many other serious "headaches" caused by intercollegiate sport competition. This measure is doubtful but possible and needs more thorough and deeper investigation. A study, conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1992, reported that women receive less than 33 percent of athletic scholarship money paid by universities, less than 23 percent of sports operating budgets and less than 18 percent of recruiting money. In practice, though, colleges are not being found in violation of the law, prescribing sports participation rates that precisely match the ratio of male and female students at a college, if they can show they are making significant progress toward sexual equality or that they are satisfying fully the sports needs of their women students (Worsnop, 1994). With all the controversy of the matter it is necessary to firstly determine the main trends in the action research project. If an action research project would consider college sport management the quantitative data collected as to what resulted from already taken steps and introduced reforms could help to see the matter clearly. The effects of the suggested solutions and feelings towards them of those involved in college and high school sport activities can be best revealed in the date of qualitative study. Thus, it will be most efficient to use both methods to see the insight of the subject and to come up with appropriate solution. Citations Price, T. (2004, March 19). Reforming big-time college sports. The CQ Researcher, 14, 249-272. Retrieved August 22, 2005, from http://library.cqpress.com/cqpac/cqresrre2004031900. Document ID: cqresrre2004031900. Worsnop, R. (1994, August 26). College sports. The CQ Researcher Online, 4. Retrieved August 22, 2005, from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1994082600. Document ID: cqresrre1994082600. Worsnop, R. (1995, September 22). High school sports. The CQ Researcher Online, 5. Retrieved August 22, 2005, from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1995092200. Document ID: cqresrre1995092200. Read More