Читать книгу Alternative Models of Sports Development in America. Solutions to a Crisis in Education and Public Health онлайн

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Interscholastic and intercollegiate athletic competition in America is not only hugely popular and at times profitable, it is also the primary avenue for mass participation as well as elite sports development and competition. That is where any similarity between the United States and other countries with regard to sports and education begins and ends. As mentioned previously, it is estimated that over 80 percent of sports development and delivery in the United States is done through educational systems. Approximately 65 percent of the US Olympic team at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games had participated in university-based sports programs (Forde 2015). This does not even include the numerous athletes from foreign countries who come to the United States not only for an education, but also to hone their athletic skills within its higher education system. In the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil, 1,018 athletes, representing many nations, were either current, incoming, or former American college athletes, including the 430 athletes in the US delegation (Martinez 2016). This in itself can cause numerous issues, not the least of which is that the primary American sports development system is providing training opportunities for elite foreign athletes who may take away opportunities from potential US athletes.⁴ There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but it is another reason why more opportunities should be available to all athletes, beyond the education system, to play and participate in sports in America. In countries such as those in Europe that are a primary focus of this book, the major avenue of sports development and delivery is outside the educational system, embedded in separate nonprofit sports club systems. The details, benefits, and weaknesses of this model, when compared to the current educational sports model in America, are discussed in greater depth as the book progresses.