Jeff:
You make some good points in your post. However, I am looking at this article more on the basic point that the writer is making. Here is how the article starts out:
High school athletic programs should be treated as a necessary and vital part of the education process, but not at the expense of academic standards and expectations.
That is the basic message that I am getting out of this article and I think it is very valid. We do want our kids to be involved in extracurricular activities. However we also do not want extracurricular time to be excessive to the point that it adversely effects our kids academic progress. As parents most of us want academics to rank in importance over athletics in their high school and college years.
I know I want my children to put more emphasis on academics than athletics. I want the schools that my children attend to also put more emphasis on academics than athletics.
This article in my opinion is about proper balance between athletics and academics in a student's development. It is saying that the athletic activities need to be structured so that they do not hinder the student's academics. I definitely believe in the importance of sports participation for my children but I really want them to put more emphasis on their academics. I played one year of college football at Kansas State University. I saw the sad results of student athletes, including myself at times, not having the proper balance between academics and athletics. I hope if any of the young wrestlers are following this topic that they are understaning the message that academics should have a higher priority than athleticism in their high school and college years.
