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As the educational budget cuts continue to roll in, and club sport participation rises, is is possible that sports will no longer be offered in school? Are we seeing the beginning if the privatization of youth sports?

The model that exists here in the USA is unique to the USA. In Canada and other countries, high school coaches are rarely paid, and weakly compensated. The difficulty that exists with the current system in the USA is when there are paid coaches who put a higher priority on coaching than they do on teaching and the exorbitant salaries that are paid to theses coaches (in particular football coaches). Sport programs, when conducted properly, have tremendous benefits, however, do the abuses of the educational system by "coaches" countermand the supposed benefits?


The privatization of youth sports already exists in the form of AAU and summer travel teams. These programs are often as ineptly conducted as many high school programs and have fewer checks and balances. As long as there is a scoreboard the desire to win will outweigh the desire to teach.