Get rid of high school sports

So suggests former college basketball coach and current executive director of the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce Len Stevens.

Stevens, who was head basketball coach at Washington State (1983-87), University of Nevada (1987-93) and a Swiss club team, recently told Dan Hinxman of the Reno Gazette-Journal that "our changing culture has effected changes in high school sports" which have assumed an unhealthy priority in our high schools.

From Hinxman's article:

As Stevens points out:

• Coaches were supposed to be teachers. Now fewer than half of them are.

• Each passing year, fewer and fewer students attend their schools’ games. A recent study showed fewer than 10 percent attend games, Stevens said.

• At almost every school principals will tell you their greatest headache is dealing with parents who have complaints about their child’s experience in sports ...

Stevens, Hinxman writes, believes that the European model of club sports would be a better system for high schools in the United States. High schools would offer only intramural sports; kids who wanted to compete at a higher level could join a club.  Clubs also might provide "breaks or waivers to talented children who might not be able to afford” joining.

From the article:

Club sports have been growing in the U.S. for years, and Stevens believes if we go to club sports that would answer a lot of problems and put the high school focus back where it belongs, on education.

In this format, high schools would still have intramural sports and physical education, which would turn the attention to recreation, diet and exercise.

Comments

[Dpkloser]

Coach Stevens was my high school basketball coach at Jesuit High in Carmichael, CA. He taught a great deal of the game. I agree, the club sport is more like a "travel team" and the high school sports can remain within the school as intramural sport.