Schools deserve praise for sports programs

ONE of the best things about being a sports journalist is when I get the chance to talk to young athletes.

I love hearing the passion in their voice when they talk about how they’d “love to play for Queensland or even Australia one day”.

Even better is when they’ve set a record, won a trophy or been picked up by the team they’ve always dreamed of playing for.

Unfortunately not everyone can make a career out of sport.

And that is where our schools step up to the mark.

Whether you are athletically minded or not, an education will always be extremely important.

It is however very pleasing to see just how far our schools and education system are willing to go to let our children keep the sporting dream alive.

This column is prompted by my visit to Toowoomba Grammar School earlier this week for a soccer story.

TGS headmaster Peter Hauser was pleased to welcome former professional soccer player and elite coach Thiago Kosloski to the school.

Speaking to The Chronicle Kosloski spoke of his passion for soccer and education and how wonderfully TGS integrated the two elements.

TGS is but one example though.

Many of our public and private school now offer sports-based curriculum to their students.

It helps keep the dream of being a sports professional alive a little longer while also giving the students something to “fall back on”.

I honestly believe a lot of the crisis and scandal of modern sport could’ve been avoided if the professionals in question had a more balanced education in their formative years.

And how often have we seen the older generation of sport stars fall on hard times at the end of their career simply because they have not other skill sets.

Sport will always be popular and we should encourage our kids to participate and dream but we must prepare them for the future as well.