1. Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies
Chapter 14
Sports in High School and College:
Do Competitive Sports
Contribute to Education?

2. and fund interschool varsity sport programs.
The United States is the only country where it is taken for granted that high schools & colleges sponsor
and fund interschool varsity sport programs.
(Source: © ELLEN OZIER/Reuters/Corbis)

3. Arguments for and against interscholastic sports
Involve students in activities and increase interest in school
Build self-esteem and other positive traits
Enhance fitness and lifetime participation
Generate spirit and unity
Promote support
Develop and reward valued
skills
Arguments against:
Distract attention from academics
Create dependence and conformity
Too many injuries, too many spectators
Create superficial, transitory spirit
Waste resources
Create pressure, distort status system

4. Those who try out for, make, and stay on school sport teams often have unique traits. This makes it difficult to say if playing sports is a unique developmental experience.
Grades may be higher in-season because coaches, parents, and teachers monitor athletes closely.

5. special awards and status for athletes.
The U.S. is the only country in the world where high schools and colleges fund elite varsity teams and provide
special awards and status for athletes.

6. Experiences of high school athletes
Research shows that there are differences between students who play varsity sports and those who don’t.
Most of the differences are due to selection-in, filtering-out, and in-season control processes.
Those who play varsity sports often have pre-existing characteristics making them different from those who don’t play.

7. Methodological problems
Research on the consequences of playing varsity sports is difficult to do because
Growth and development among students is related to many factors beyond playing sports
Meanings given to sport participation vary by context and from one person to another

8. Athletes must be studied in context
. . . because the meanings given to sport participation vary according to:
The status associated with being an athlete in various contexts
The identities young people develop as they play sports
The ways that young people integrate sports and an athlete identity into their lives

9. What the research tells us (I)
Be careful when generalizing about the educational value of sports
Longitudinal and qualitative studies are needed to identify changes related exclusively to sport participation
Varsity athletes may be treated differently by significant others
(continued)

10. What the research tells us (II)
Varsity sports exert an influence on the larger student culture in high schools, but we don’t know much about this
The impact of sport participation depends on the meanings given to it—and meanings emerge through social interaction with many people in and out of school.

11. Meanings given to sport participation vary with three factors:
The status given to athletes and sports in different contexts
The identities that young people develop as they play sports
The ways that young people integrate sports and an athlete identity into their lives

12. Research indicates that the effects of playing school sports depend on
The contexts in which sports are played
The organization of sport programs
The social characteristics of athletes

13. Student culture in high schools
Being a student-athlete often is a source of status and popularity
More for young men than young women
Sports are sites for major social occasions in the school
Sports often reproduce dominant ideologies related to gender, social class, and race & ethnicity

14. Before 1980, high school girls who played sports were often
viewed negatively. Today young women feel comfortable
expressing themselves on varsity sport teams
( Source: Danielle Hicks)

15. high schools and colleges.
Some women’s sports receive attention equal to the attention received by men’s sports in
high schools and colleges.
( Source: AP
Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

16. Interscholastic sports are most likely to be positive learning experiences if they
Enable students to be noticed, rewarded, and taken seriously as human beings
Connect young people with adult advocates and mentors
Are explicitly linked with non-sport situations and how to succeed in them
However, there is a lack of systematic evidence on what is learned in sports

17. Experiences of college athletes
Intercollegiate sports are NOT all the same—they vary by
Division in the NCAA
Type of program and team
The cultures that are created on teams
The importance of sports in the context of the campus and larger community

18. Characteristics of big-time (Division I) programs
Usually emphasize football or men’s basketball and their revenue-generating potential
Revenues can be high, but very few teams or athletic departments make more money than they spend
Athletic scholarships may be awarded within limits set by the NCAA
Teams often travel extensively
Quality of skills and competition is high

19. The universities with teams that play regularly on television constitute only 12% of all colleges & universities.
Only 23% of all college athletes play at such universities (including on teams that aren’t on television).
About 85% of college athletes play in relatively small programs in which scholarships are not awarded and on teams that generate little or no revenue, attract few spectators, and receive little or no media coverage.
Percentage distribution of all colleges/universities with sport programs by athletic organization & division, 2012
_____________________________________________
Organization Division % of all schools
Percentage distribution of all colleges/universities with sport programs by athletic organization & division, 2012
_____________________________________________
Organization Division % of all athletes

20. Athletes in big-time programs
Participants in revenue (football and basketball) sports often have scholarships
Time and energy commitments to sport are high, and participants often must choose between
Working out and practicing sports
Doing coursework
Engaging in social activities
Academic detachment is a commonly used coping strategy among male athletes

21. When the Salisbury University lacrosse team defeated SUNY Cortland for the Division III NCAA title, the match was played before a sparse crowd with little media coverage.
( Source: Andres Alonso/
NCAA Photos)

22. Playing before 80,000 people in a stadium with millions
watching on TV and millions of dollars related to the game
often distracts 18- to 22-yearolds from academic assignments
Photo by Jay Coakley

23. Grades and graduation rates among college athletes (I)
Graduation data are confusing because there are many different ways to compute statistics.
Information on grades must be qualified because
Athletes often are overrepresented in certain courses and majors (“clustering”)
Athletes in entertainment-oriented sports often enter college with lower grades and standardized test scores than other entering students
(continued)

24. Grades and graduation rates among college athletes (II)
Graduation rates among all varsity athletes are slightly higher than rates for all students.
Graduation rates in some big-time revenue sports are shamefully low.
Female athletes have higher graduation rates than male athletes.
Black athletes have graduation rates higher than black students as a whole, but lower than rates for white athletes.

25. College sports may distort ideas about education.

26. Athletes who most successfully balance athletic and academic commitments
Those who have:
Past experiences that consistently reaffirm the importance of education
Social networks that support academic identities
Perceived access to career opportunities following graduation
Social relationships and experiences that expand confidence and skills apart from sports

27. Academic integrity in college sports
Restoring/maintaining academic integrity is difficult when athletic success is tied to big money and the emotions and identities of boosters and alumni.
Raising academic standards is important, but it must be done so it does not unfairly exclude certain students.
Current sanctions include
Reduction of scholarships
Ban schools from post-season games
Suspend entire athletic department—if graduation rates fall below a certain level for multiple years

28. Academic support programs
Research is needed on these programs because they vary from campus to campus.
Recent media coverage suggests that some programs focus more on eligibility than learning.
Too many programs are administered by athletic departments rather than tenured faculty.

29. Recent reforms in big-time programs
The purpose of new rules and standards passed from 1983–2008 was to:
Send messages to students (in HS and college) that academic achievement does matter in college sports
Set new guidelines for universities that had ignored academic issues
Provide to college athletes the support they need to succeed academically
Establish sanctions for teams and universities that do not meet standards

30. New NCAA rules for Division I schools
Academic Progress Rate (APR)
Calculated each semester
1 point awarded for each player eligible and each player returning to school
Point scores are adjusted for team size
Graduation Success Rate (GSR)
Proportion of athletes entering a school during a 4-year window and graduating in 6 years
Adjusted for transfers and players turning pro

31. Questions About the Benefits of Varsity Sports: School Spirit
High school spirit may enhanced, but does this improve the overall academic climate or distract from it? We don’t know at this time
Spirit on college campuses is enhanced by sport, but not for all students.
Big-time sport events are made into social occasions during which students are more likely to party, binge drink, avoid the library, and study less
Community spirit is often enhanced, mostly when teams win regularly, but the impact of this spirit on high schools and colleges has not been systematically studied

32. School and community spirit
may be connected with high school sport teams.
Photo by Tom Segady

33. Photo by Jay Coakley
When boosters are heavily invested in the success of a team, it is difficult to prevent them from influencing coaches and players.

34. Does this school spirit improve the overall academic climate at LSU or any university? (The CEO of Allstate might say yes!)
( Source: Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos)

35. Questions About the Benefits of Varsity Sports: Budgets
High school sport budgets vary greatly. When general budgets are cut, money spent on sports can create controversy.
Nearly all college sport programs lose money
Are the losses worth it in academic and developmental terms?
Losses are covered primarily by student fees, general funds at the university, and donations to the athletic department.
Are the public and community relations functions of varsity sports worth their costs? Do community fans of sports interfere or make contributions?

36. Sports and high school budgets
There are great variations in the budgets of high school sport programs. Total costs are difficult to determine, and they vary widely depending on the wealth of students’ families.
In the face of budget problems, schools use these strategies:
Assess sport participation fees
Depend on support from booster clubs
Seek corporate sponsorships
As injuries become an issue, the cost for protective equipment and liability insurance increase; this may force some schools to drop certain sports

37. Research shows that spending money on big-time college sports
Increased four times faster than academic budgets in recent years
Has no effect on general academic quality or the academic qualifications of incoming students
Does not increase alumni donations
Does not improve win-loss records
Created a massive wealth gap between athletic departments
Will never change the fact that half of all games are lost when good teams play each other

38. Median university revenues and expenditures
by subdivisions in Division I, 2012
NCAA data, 2012
In each of the subdivisions, the universities have a median net deficit of between $9.8 million and $12.3 million per year.
Who decides if these deficits are “worth it”? What criteria do they use to make their decision?
In recent years, well over $1 billion in public (tax) money and $½ billion in student fees have been used to cover deficits at public institutions each year.

39. AAUP Report, 2014
“When we tally up the score on the economics of college sports, we find it hard to avoid the conclusion that current practices are harming our academic programs.”
The median institutional subsidy in 2012 accounted for 27.5 percent of the athletics program budget in D1-A, 73.0 percent in D1-AA, and 81.7 percent in D1-AAA.
During academic year 2013–14 all four-year colleges and universities will spend about $16 billion on athletic programs.

40. are in conferences that receive large media rights fees.
The belief that football pays for all sports, especially women’s sports, is true only in a few universities where teams
are in conferences that receive large media rights fees.
Photo by Jay Coakley

41. In most NCAA schools, women’s sport programs have smaller financial deficits than men’s sports. Therefore, men’s sports have a higher net cost than women’s sports.
The annual budget for this Division I championship women’s bowling team at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is small compared to the cost of most men’s sports.
( Source: Alyssa Schukar/NCAA Photos)

42. High school & college sports face uncertainties today
Primary issues causing uncertainties:
Cost containment and budget inequality
Changing orientations and rising expectations
Injuries, especially to the brain
Educational (ir)relevance
Gender inequity
Opportunities for students with a disability

43. Cost containment & budget inequality
The cost of HS & college programs has increased far beyond the rate of inflation and academic expenditures
Given current expenditures, most sport programs are unsustainable financially.
Budget and program inequality has become so great that it creates difficulties in scheduling games.
Some private high schools have budgets many times greater than the public schools they play.
The University of Texas has an annual athletic budget of over $160 million; other universities with football teams have annual budgets of less than $25 million.
This form of inequality is self-perpetuating; championships and even winning seasons are beyond hope for poor programs.

44. Changing orientations and rising expectations
HS and college players today increasingly cone from “It’s all about me!” club and youth programs, and they expect special treatment in varsity programs.
Parents of athletes today are more directly involved in the “sport careers” of their children and they have expectations for HS and college programs.
Athletes are becoming more assertive about how they should be treated when it comes to their health and time commitments to sports.

45. Injuries, especially to the brain
As injury rates increase in many sports, and as more reports are published on brain damage caused by concussions and repetitive sub-concussive head trauma, the liability issues become great.
Universities have clearly been negligent in informing athletes of risks, and they are being sued for this.
High schools deal with young people under the age of legal informed consent, so their liability issues are massive.
Football, ice hockey, & soccer are most likely to be impacted
Educators at schools that sponsor sports that do regular damage to students’ brains are in trouble

46. Educational (ir)relevance
The assumption
Tensions between core mission of universities & commercial values of high profile sports
These tensions have grown significantly since 1990 as universities pursue television contracts, FB bowl game invitations, NCAA basketball championships.
The result: ADs have turned into profit-seeking programs with diminished educational relevance.

47. In FBS Conference schools the annual median spending for athletes exceeds academic spending for students by 3-to-12 times
The SEC has the greatest spending gap: median academic spending per student was $13,471 in 2009 while athletic spending per athlete was $156,833. This gap has continued to increase after 2009.
During March Madness, library use declines at universities with teams in the tournament; students viewed 6 percent fewer articles a day as long as their team was in contention.
When a team won an upset or close game, article access fell 19 percent the day after the victory. Neither dip was made up later with increased downloads (Charles Clotfelter, 2011)

48. STUDENTS vs ATHLETES: Who matters?
At the University of Texas, non-FB athletes receive about 7,000 hours of tutoring a year
Members of the FB team receive 12,000 to 15,000 hours of tutoring annually — over 100 hours per football player.
Only 1 in 10 UT undergrads receives tutoring, at an average of a little more than 13 hours each.

49. Tensions between education goals and the sport-media-entertainment industry
In the last 10 years, the number of college football and basketball games on ESPN channels rose to 1,320 from 491. This doesn’t include games shown by the Big 10 Network, Fox, CBS/Turner, Versus and NBC. All that programming means big games scheduled during the week and television crews, gridlock & tailgating on campus during the school day.
Laura Pappano (2012)
It’s become so important on the college campus that it’s one of the only ways the student body knows how to come together. In China and other parts of the world, there are no gigantic stadiums in the middle of campus. There is a laser focus on education as being the major thing. In the United States, we play football How can you have a Wednesday night football game without shutting down the university for a day or two?
Allen Sack, U of New Haven; president, Drake Group (2012)

50. Gender inequity
At the high school level there are many districts that have never had gender equity across their schools
Only a handful of colleges and universities have consistently had gender equity in their athletic programs
None of the offending schools has ever been fined by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Women are far underrepresented in all leadership positions and professional staff; there have been no major positive changes for over a decade
Since 1999, men have been hired in nearly 75% of the job openings for women’s college teams.
Women coach only 2—3.5% of men’s teams (usually gender mixed teams)

51. This is one of those self-perpetuating myths about college sports
This is one of those self-perpetuating myths about college sports. These two male athletes, like other people, have their facts confused.
Student fees from women on campus subsidize men’s sports more than football subsidizes women’s sports.

52. Percentage point change, 1977-2012
Percentage of female head coaches in the 10 most popular women’s sports in NCAA schools,
Sport
1977*
1987
1997
2008*
2012
Percentage point change,
Basketball
79.4
59.9
65.2
59.1
59.5
-19.9
Volleyball
86.6
70.2
67.8
55.0
53.3
-33.3
Cross-Country
35.2
18.7
20.7
19.2
21.2
-14.0
Soccer
29.4
24.1
33.1
32.2
+2.8
Softball
83.5
67.5
64.7
62.1
-21.4
Tennis
72.9
54.9
40.9
29.8
29.9
-43.0
Track & Field
52.3
20.8
16.4
18.0
-33.1
Golf
54.6
37.5
45.2
38.8
41.6
-13.0
Swimming/diving
53.6
31.2
33.7
24.3
26.2
-27.4
Lacrosse
90.7
95.1
85.2
84.6
85.1
-5.6

53. This patterns has not changed since 2008-09

54. Girls & boys participating in high school sports, 1971–2014 (in millions)
Since 1995 there has been no progress in closing the gap between boys and girls in high school sports

55. Gender (in)equity in NCAA Division I universities, 2012

56. Opportunities for students with a disability
Where are the “Paravarsity” sports in US schools?
U.S. Department of Education guidelines require that schools take seriously the sport participation of students with disabilities
These guidelines are creating panic due to financial power of federal government support for higher education.
High school principals, athletic directors, and coaches want to know: What does inclusion mean?
At the college level, this issue if completely off the radar

57. Adapted sports in high schools?
Basketball, bowling, floor hockey, soccer, softball, and track are approved high school sports.
Only .7%, or fewer than 130 schools out of 18,000 U.S. high schools have any “paravarsity” teams.
There are 7.71 million varsity athletes, but fewer than 9,000 students play on adapted teams, and half of those play 3 sports: bowling, softball, and soccer.

58. Issues in High School Sport Programs
As schools & coaches strive for state rankings, team membership increasingly requires massive time commitments, year round specialization in one sport, off-season training and club participation.
This focus cannot be defended in educational terms; so much time, attention, and funding go into sports that it skews the culture of schools away from academic focus
As budgets fail to meet expectations of parents and community boosters, they raise funds for programs, but then want to participate in managing them.
Their focus is on-the-field excellence with little or no attention paid academic issues.

59. Issues in College Sport Programs
Scandals and Rule Violations
Academic cheating, athlete criminal actions and sexual assault, rule violations by coaches and boosters
Likeness Lawsuit
If the NCAA has violated antitrust laws, court rulings could force it to pay billions to former players and current players
Pay for Players
This issue if forcing the NCAA to make significant changes, even before any court rulings
Distorted Racial and Ethnic Priorities
African Americans are valued as revenue producing athletes but not as general students

60. Basketball
African Americans are successfully recruited to play football and men’s and women’s basketball, but for little else. Is this their idea of an affirmative action program?!

61. Sources of isolation for black athletes (I)
Racial and ethnic stereotypes used by some people on campus
The amount of time that athletes must devote to their sports
Campus activities often fail to represent the interests and experiences of black students, making them feel unwelcome
(continued)

62. Sources of isolation for black athletes (II)
Black athletes, feeling unwelcome, may withdraw from activities that could connect them with other students
White students who lack experience in racially diverse groups may not interact freely with black athletes
Tensions are created when white students conclude that black athletes have things easy and are unfairly privileged