should public secondary schools end sports

[Alcibiades]

Athletics are one of the only useful things funded at the secondary school level. They should receive significantly more funding.

I can certainly see an argument for reducing how much is spent on them, especially football. Not because football is a potentially dangerous sport, which it is,but the amount of money spent on the stadium can be ridiculous.

It’s quite unbelievable that down in Texas, there are high school stadiums with 20,000 capacity - the size of a small English Premier League stadium.

[Alcibiades]

Athletics are one of the only useful things funded at the secondary school level. They should receive significantly more funding.

I can certainly see an argument for reducing how much is spent on them, especially football. Not because football is a potentially dangerous sport, which it is,but the amount of money spent on the stadium can be ridiculous.

It’s quite unbelievable that down in Texas, there are high school stadiums with 20,000 capacity - the size of a small English Premier League stadium.

It's quite unbelievable that high schools there have stadiums at all, if you ask me.

Yep - a rather alien concept for us Europeans!

[Alcibiades]

Athletics are one of the only useful things funded at the secondary school level. They should receive significantly more funding.

I can certainly see an argument for reducing how much is spent on them, especially football. Not because football is a potentially dangerous sport, which it is,but the amount of money spent on the stadium can be ridiculous.

It’s quite unbelievable that down in Texas, there are high school stadiums with 20,000 capacity - the size of a small English Premier League stadium.

It's quite unbelievable that high schools there have stadiums at all, if you ask me.

Yep - a rather alien concept for us Europeans!

Keep in mind that in America's civic culture, especially in small towns, schools are the one community-wide institution in local communities.

I guess the other relevant cultural difference is that in America, most participation in the major team sports is through academic institutions (certainly if you harbour professional hopes), whereas in Europe, while there are school teams, if you are serious about your sport you will be a member of a club outside of school.