Sports in School: The Future of an Institution

In this collection of essays, leading national sport authorities including journalists, coaches, athletic directors, and varsity and professional players themselves, talk about what is wrong with sports education today and how it can be improved. Each contributor considers whether public expectations - that sport promotes character development, physical fitness and positive educational and social values - are being met in today’s reality. By exploring these long unchallenged notions, the writers ask tough questions like: is a coach or parent screaming at a 6-year-old for missing a fly ball a healthy way in which to introduce a youngster to sport?; just how does an athletic scandal or the low graduation rate of student-athletes positively contribute to the image and educational mission of a university?; what does sport really represent in the age of television, corporate sky boxes and sneaker deals ?; and how has organized sport become more about the egos of those who coach and administer the programmes than about the personal development of those who participate in them?