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The
pressure of winning has taken its toll on school
athletes. Many schools today are fighting over talent
and are usually moving heaven and earth to get the
players to assure them of sporting success.
With the
proliferation of good basketball instruction nowadays,
schools are assured of fundamentally sound players who
only need a little seasoning.
Yet,
there are, of course, players who would capture the
schools’ imagination from time to time. And what to do?
Your guess is as good as mine.
But this
writer is practically against too much pampering of
players who do well for the institution. As said in a
recent article, it all boils down to a school’s
priorities, whether education or athletics would come
first.
I think
most players, particularly if they’re a bit
intellectually gifted, are shooting below their mark
when they choose “safe” courses. Safe meaning they could
easily breeze through schoolwork with all their focus
and extra time in sports and social activities after it.
What’s
worse is if the institution itself caters to such.
They
might look the other way, or perhaps, even encourage
cagers to take only a few subjects, minor ones to just
comply with the league requirement on schooling.
Much
worse, players may be given a mere slap on the wrist for
missing classes for not getting the required grades
needed to stay on the team and for not making time for
studying or being caught in activities that would
compromise the institution’s reputation.
Most
basketball experts call it pampering. Of course, some
may say that this little leeway is a reward in exchange
for the physical rigors of playing for the school.
But we
are again missing the point here, that the school’s main
objective is academics weighed with athletics, if the
latter is also a priority.
It would
be hard for some schools to think about sticking to a
regimen that would keep out talented but
learning-deficient players from attending school.
The
idea, of course, is to push these players to also study,
giving them adequate tutoring or extra help in research,
but no way is it making things easier for them.
In case
they won’t adhere to these, then show them the door.
Another school may take them in later on and win, but
their post-athletic life would be a big question mark. |
