New sports-centered private schools raise questions

The changes in youth sports since the 1970s are as dramatic as Iowa’s weather this summer. Those changes also raise questions about if sports are extracurricular or should be the main objective.

In the 1970s school sports were the only game in town. There were no club traveling teams or private sports academies. To get ready for organized sports, you learned through pickup games at the basketball court or on a dusty diamond playing work-up. Not a referee or umpire in sight. You learned from older friends, patient enough to teach. The rules were flexible and unwritten.

In rural high schools like mine, there were no team tryouts. Everyone was needed. The only cutting was when the home ec. class was sewing or when there was a big algebra test, we wanted to dodge. I still haven’t solved X. You might not be able to shoot or catch, but you were awarded a well-used uniform and a spot on the bench.

There were a few good players, but none caused college scouts to drool or had realistic visions of dribbling a basketball or catching fly balls in college or as a career.

I don’t remember parents screaming at the coach about their kids not playing every second. It may have happened, but most parents didn’t measure their success by how many minutes their sons and daughters played.

Sports were clearly extracurricular, finishing second to academics and farm work. I remember playing baseball and hoping our starting pitcher hadn’t bailed hay all day before the game. One basketball season, the whole team prayed our best rebounder could somehow at least get a D- in science so he could play. He didn’t.

The school teams didn’t schedule games on Wednesdays because it was church night. Also, practice ended early. I’m not sure it was a written rule, but it was honored by even the hardest coach.

That was then. This is now.

Private and public schools now have new competition. They now compete for athletes with club traveling teams playing regionally and sometimes nationally. Those with funding and talent have a choice.

But traveling teams aren’t the only new competitors for the best youth talent. The TPH sports Academy, a one-stop shop providing academics and sports for grades 6-12 opened its doors in the Des Moines suburbs last year.

According to its web site, the academy is housed at Sportsplex West in Waukee but is moving to a state-of-the-art sports complex in Norwalk featuring “multiple courts, fields, and turf setups as well as a performance training center, a 3,000 square-foot classroom and a restaurant to fuel the athletes.”

The daily schedule says athletes will have 20+ hours per week of classroom academics and additional online learning. The remainder of the day will be used for work on the students’ sport and training.

The TPH Academy comes with a hefty tuition cost of $27,999 per year. Parents willing to pay are no doubt dreaming of another Caitlin Clark or George Kittle being born.

At this Academy, sports aren’t extracurricular. That notion went the way of the dial phone and floppy disk.

It’s all about sports.

Clearly, this is a family’s choice, but choosing to have sports be the focus of a young student’s life should raise serious questions. For example, is it the parents who are obsessed by sports or is it the student’s interest?

What if the student doesn’t excel at the sport chosen? What if they’re seriously injured?

Sports is a great extracurricular activity and helps many kids stay in school and thrive. But it’s dangerous when it’s primary. Sports academies as a one-stop shop for training and academics is the latest shiny but dangerous trend.

Bruce Lear of Sioux City, taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring. BruceLear2419@gmail.com