Highschool sports are taken WAY too seriously. amirite?

They say it has to do with getting partial or full scholarships.

by Silver_Ask 1 week ago

Ironically, for a number of sports the parents probably have to spend more money than college would cost to get the scholarship.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

My aunt and uncle certainly did on ex-MLB baseball coaches (1on1) and travel teams. None of my cousins played in college lol

by OkWalk 1 week ago

My son isn't in sports, but a friend has 3 kids who play soccer. I just about dropped dead when she was talking about costs. Even before the costs of traveling, hotels stays, etc.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah. Around us soccer clubs charge thousands of dollars for a year starting kids from an early age. All that money in a college fund will fit 10 years will be around 40k

by Actual_Bad_7375 1 week ago

Hmmmm, I don't think so bro. My parents paid maybe $1,000 a year on football stuff, my school costed $50,000 a year (I had a $45,000 a year scholarship)

by vhagenes 1 week ago

Hell, little league is taken too seriously. A bunch of losers trying live vicariously through their children because they're stuck working some crap job because those 4 years were the only time they mattered.

by Independent-Wolf-454 1 week ago

I've seen little kids get yelled at by their parents for messing up stuff in Little Leagues and I just sit there like wtf are you doing as a parent

by DryOutlandishness816 1 week ago

Ooh no, that last pitch was clearly outside! Time to chug that 14th beer and punch the umpire!

by Independent-Wolf-454 1 week ago

What ya wanna do huh?

by Independent-Wolf-454 1 week ago

I didn't hear no bell

by Agreeable-You 1 week ago

It's to help enforce drive and passion. These kids need to grow up and realize that putting in no effort is not good. It's why professionals get furious when playing games even when it's a friendly. People have gotten to soft nowadays.

by Alta25 1 week ago

Life is taken too seriously.

by Future_Holiday538 1 week ago

I coached. Really wanted to have a video of some of the parents "cheering" during the season showing it on the big screen at the end of the year banquet. The idea was always shut down by the people above me. Maybe, just maybe it would open the eyes of some of the blowholes…….doubt it though. They always think it's someone else.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

what do you mean "cheering"?

by Xwatsica 1 week ago

Cheer for the team when it's a team sport, not just for your little Johnny. Don't berate the officials the whole game. Don't personally, verbally attack anyone. Respect your opponents, don't belittle them. These are only a few things that some parents "cheer" about. The kids on your child's team know which parents should just stay home, kids are pretty smart.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Oh yeah i agree 100%, just not exactly sure what you meant, thanks!

by Xwatsica 1 week ago

I agree. more so because it leads the school to prioritizing athletic students and giving them privileges and passes people wouldn't normally have because they're essentially the school's cash cow for grants and funding. i can see why they are competitive when it comes to colleges and getting scholarships, but the students should get the same treatment as everyone else does

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Agree. I have a hs jr and his games are so much more intense than "back in the day". It feels like theyre all constantly competing for d1 rides when thats not even close to the case. And the parent/volunteer demands and the team parent/coach politics? Bleh.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

While people likely do go a little overboard, the pros outweigh the cons. Increases physical fitness and social aptitude. Athletes do better in school. And of course, if you hope to get into an elite school involvement in athletics is increasingly a requirement. Stellar GPA and SAT alone won't do the trick.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You aren't wrong but a potential full or partial free ride through college isn't nothing for a lot of people And if you're talented enough to have a shot going pro that's even more insane. Those are very small numbers of people though

by Oberbrunnerconn 1 week ago

Unpopular opinion, but sports scholarships shouldn't be a thing. Being good at sports is utterly irrelevant to whether or not you're a good prospect for university.

by PizzaGlass 1 week ago

Couldn't it be argued that playing for a sports team that brings in revenue to the school makes one a good prospect for the university?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Must have not been good in any sports eh?

by Alta25 1 week ago

I mean what? Universities have sports teams.... so being good at sports makes them a very valuable prospect

by Anonymous 1 week ago

lol

by monte25 1 week ago

So is Little League. Conservative Boomers love to whine about participation trophies, but if they and previous generations hadn't created a society where winning is seen as everything, participation trophies would never in a million years have been necessary.

by Ashleezboncak 1 week ago

I guess it depends on how you mean. I wasn't particularly good at sports, but it was my favorite part of the day. I went and got to see all my friends and it was a great way to stay active. I took it seriously because I wanted to do the best I could. To this day, I'm involved in some kind of sport, and even though I'm not particularly good, I take it seriously by paying attention and doing my best during practice. I also try to pay attention to my nutrition and self-care of my body. I guess overall, having a sport in my life has helped me to focus on nutrition and self-care. So, in a sense, I take it seriously, but I don't always see that as a bad thing. I do think it's silly when people take it seriously in a sense of thinking it will get them scholarships, and they'll go pro when they aren't that good.

by willmsolen 1 week ago

I had a classmate in high school that treated gym class like it was the superbowl, screaming at anyone who didn't go 100% or did something wrong. It was interesting, to say the least. Dude couldn't chill at all and the teacher didn't seem to care lol.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I actually agree. I played sports to get out of class early on game days and make friends. My grades were nothing to write home about and it probably would have been smarter to spend the time in class.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Shut up nerd, stick to your math homework

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Not just scholarship but just being on a team is like ok they are going to get into college cause it shows being athletic aka having endurance and stamina which is useful for school . Not so important for scholarships but it's meaningful for the memories created during that time. In terms of being mad and getting angry about high school sports, yea that's way too far and it gets way out of hand

by Nolannasir 1 week ago

Highschool in general is taken too seriously. My husband just did well in college after getting straight F's in hs, and is making 6 figures now. I got straight A's and became a sahm

by eliza45 1 week ago

My cousin got a nearly full scholarship to college for playing her sport, so she'd probably disagree with you. It can make a huge difference in some people's lives.

by SentenceDecent 1 week ago

This is like saying kids who were high performers academically in high school with excellent GPA's took it way too seriously. There can be serious money made in athletic scholarships that opens doors for people.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Stage parents in general are taken way too seriously.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

What Funding? Because professional sports teams make their own money, and most college programs use the money they make from sports to keep the college running, the biggest thing is can think of is when a sports team wants Taxpayers to help build a stadium, but the Tax Revenue from having a major sports team in your area is insane, Look at Oakland it used to be a Sports mecha and now lost all its professional sports teams and its Local Economy is suffering

by corrinezieme 1 week ago

That is not how money works. It is the government's responsibility to feed and house people, along with healthcare. It's not the NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL's responsiblity.

by hratke 1 week ago

Sports in general are taken way too serious

by afranecki 1 week ago

Was just at my local D3 college baseball game. I like to go on nice days. The parents there took it soooo seriously. You guys, it's over. Your kid got into the college. They aren't going to be professional baseball players. Let them be kids playing a game, finally.

by abshirejaquelin 1 week ago

Why you think this is an unpopular opinion is beyond me. Everyone knows they're taken too seriously. Most people just don't care. Why? 1) Because taking them seriously and being competitive is part of the fun of sports to begin with. 2) High school sports is the highest level most people are ever going to play. The students know that and so do their parents. As such, they take them seriously. 3) There are a small percentage that are going to get scholarships. So, of course, they take them seriously.

by Original-Put9566 1 week ago

Sports are great, but some parents are off the rails. I'm in my 40s and feel EVERYTHING has become a competition. The concept of doing something for the sake of doing is long lost.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is a good unpopular opinion because it's actually unpopular. The majority of people like sports and schools learned that their sports programs make the school money. Cutting these programs from schools wouldn't divert the money to other things, the money just wouldn't exist. If anything, overflow from the sports programs helps non-sports things more than the nonexistence of the sports programs would. Although you may not like it, it's probably the best arrangement given how society is as a whole.

by Carmellaharber 1 week ago

Glory Days for lots of parents. It's sad.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Sports across the board are taken way too seriously

by dickensemelia 1 week ago

Yep playing sports isn't impressive if you're a child or teenager. Keeping a fit lifestyle in your adult years is a lot more of an achievement.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

My favourite was when the highschool sports guys would take like, gym class sports incredibly seriously. Floor hockey got banned in my class because the football guys kept hurling their hockey sticks across the gym when they lost a round

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Another former athlete and current coach here. It's only going to get worse with potential NIL money at stake.

by Nrobel 1 week ago

By parents? Sure. By the kids? Hell no. For most of them, especially in sports like football, the last time they put on their high school jersey is the last time they're ever going to get to play the sport as it was meant to be played. I have no problem with them taking it seriously.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yes. I didn't play HS sports b/c they just took it serious to a level that wasn't even close to what I felt about it. It's parents living vicariously through their children, and no sense of things that actually matter along with overly ambitious coaches who will never go anywhere.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Toxic parents suck, but other than that I disagree. A lot of kids want that intense competition. Kids that don't are free to play at the JV level.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You don't need the "highschool" in there

by vernice08 1 week ago

You have to think about it this way, if you're from a poor or low income home with little to no resources to help you get to a level academically where you can get a full ride scholarship, sports might be your only option. In my opinion though athletics and education/ academia should be two separate entities. I worked at a UC in California and the amount athletes I encountered that were there because they were good at sports when they were as dumb as a rock was frustrating to see.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tbh some people would say because of scholarships or admission or whatever but this is just a global thing. In my country sport is only a deterrent to university and many parents still pushed their kids to their limits even physically abusing them when they lose.

by GarlicTotal6874 1 week ago

What? Honestly, why would someone ask about the education if nobody they know goes there, or wants to go there? I can't even begin to think how that conversation would go. Like you'd most likely not have anything to compare and contrast with. There's no education competition or anything on television people would/could watch to even compare and have nice small talk about. That's why they go with sports when you ask about a school. It's on tv, you hear and see the students names, they compete against each other, and then the conversations can branch out much more from there.

by Anonymous 1 week ago