Sports put a lot in ‘W’ column for communities

This article generally concerns itself with legal proceedings, court functions or conflict resolution, so please indulge me for delving into a subject that may be better suited for the sports section. However, having played sports at the collegiate level and, more importantly, having coached youth sports for the better part of my life, I couldn’t help getting caught up in the conversation about the true value of sport.

Some would say it’s about the money. After all, in 2018, the National Football League made $8.1 billion, Major League Baseball revenues were $10.3 billion and the average National Basketball Association franchise was worth $1.65 billion. In 2017, the University of Texas made over $214 million in revenue, but had expenses of $207 million. Arizona State University’s revenue were over $101 million, but their expenses were $98 million. The University of Arizona actually lost money — they made over $90 million, but incurred expenses of over $91 million. Notwithstanding all this wealth, from my experiences of coaching children from low-income, lesser developed neighborhoods, the true value of sport is not the money.

Some might say that entertainment is the worth of sport. Most of us can recount a play or situation in a game or season that was certainly engaging. Remember that play, run, shot, hit, score? No doubt the experience is very gratifying for most people, but while the memories may be unforgettable, and while the high-level athletic performance is why most people watch, entertainment is not the true value of sport.

Sports are played, coached and watched because we learn from sports. It is absolutely, unmistakably fun and sometimes profitable, but sport’s proper value is the form of education provided to every participant. Skills are learned and acquired that teach us how to work together, compete, survive, be creative, resilient and, most importantly, how to succeed. All life’s lessons can be learned through sport. Understandably, it’s not the only avenue in which these lessons can be acquired, but this approach is very effective. It’s probably why subjects like robotics, engineering, law, etc. have developed their own competitive sporting events.

It’s true, there are many people who don’t like athletic competition — they don’t play, they don’t watch. There are also many people who don’t like the ballet, opera or other various forms of art, but these art forms are, nevertheless, worthy of being a part of our educational system. They help us to become a better people and society.

In New Mexico, like every other state, we subsidize all types of education which, in all likelihood, will never be re-paid. Art, dance and music are just some of the forms of education we teach without any worry that we’ll ever be financially reimbursed. We understand the real value of this type of learning; the real reward is self-improvement and the enhancement to humankind.

While it’s true the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) areas of education are both enlightening and absolutely necessary for an educated society, they, too, are subsidized without any assurance that those receiving this type of education will contribute financially to the institution or state that provides the education. We expect that those educated in these areas will go on to productive, prosperous careers and help make the world a better place.

Shouldn’t we maintain the same hope for those individuals involved in athletics? We know that many individuals participating in sports perform exceedingly well in academic fields. At the University of New Mexico, for example, there are approximately 440 athletes, of whom 200 were recognized as Academic All-Conference performers with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher. In 2018, UNM athletes had 21 straight semesters with an average GPA of 3.0 or better. In the 2018-19 school year, UNM athletes also performed over 4,625 community service hours.

I’ve coached sports to more kids than I can count from the inner city who went on to institutions of higher learning. If these student-athletes had not been playing a sport, they may have dropped out of school. Furthermore, if sports were not offered at the collegiate level, these athletes would be at other universities obtaining their athletic and academic honors. There would be one less student athlete in New Mexico who excels in all endeavors, one less person in New Mexico trying to make our state a better place. Can we really afford to lose one more person of this caliber? We all know the answer, and it’s the real reason why life’s education is the true value of sport!