-
Beyond the Ivy-covered Walls
- University Press of Mississippi
- Chapter
- Additional Information
24 Disorder in the house, there’s a flaw in the system And the fly in the ointment’s gonna bring the whole thing down The floodgates are open, we’ve let the demons loose. The big guns have spoken, and we’ve fallen for the ruse. —Warren Zevon and George Calderon The road to reform of America’s model of elite athletics begins and ends on the college campus. Between those two points, however , that road runs through our high schools, cuts through our communities, and winds throughout our society. This is not to say that our high school and communitybased sports programs and their administrators, coaches, athletes, and parents have no role to play in reform. All over the country, individuals and institutions at these levels are pushing for and, in many cases, making progress in reforming sports. Unfortunately, locally based initiatives will never add up to drive the type of sweeping, systemic change outlined in the pages to follow. For many reasons, BEYOND THE IVYCOVERED WALLS 25 BEYOND THE IVY-COVERED WALLS the prospect for broad-based change at these levels hinges on efforts to reform college athletics. As mentioned in the introduction, the examples set and values projected by college programs filter down to the high school, junior high school, and peewee league levels. That same role model capability can also serve as a catalyst for change. Americans look to higher education to provide leadership and direction in addressing the critical issues of the day, including the role that sports plays in our schools, communities, and lives. If we are ever going to improve the way we, as a country, utilize athletics as an educational, public health, and cultural resource, the initiative for that change must come from higher education. Second, there are powerful cultural forces and structural limitations inherent in high school and community-based athletic systems that prevent such sweeping change. Resistance to change at the high school and community level will be enormous because these institutions of sport are so ingrained in the fabric of the local community. For example , it is tough to imagine high schools in Texas switching to the European club system of community sports without significant influence from an outside force. Further, the administrative and governance structure necessary to drive sweeping national reform of high school and youth league sports simply does not exist. High school athletics is governed and administered at the state level and youth sports at the community level. The prospect of organizing these disparate elements into any coordinated reform effort is highly unlikely. But if the philosophy and operating principles of college athletics were fundamentally reformed, our state high school associations and local youth sports [34.238.242.168] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 16:12 GMT) 26 BEYOND THE IVY-COVERED WALLS organizations would surely note the example and might feel pressured to initiate their own reforms. Because college athletics operates under a national umbrella, governed by single national entities (NCAA, National Junior College Athletic Association [NJCAA], and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics [NAIA]), a coordinated reform effort is quite achievable. As will be documented later, such a movement is currently under way. Over the past twenty-four years, through the persistent efforts of college and university presidents, a critical mass of people and organizations has been coalescing around the idea of athletics reform. This, coupled with a series of changing contextual factors, which will be detailed in chapter four has, for the first time, created an environment where progressive, systemic reform of the college model is within reach. In short, higher education assumes a significant leadership role in our society and thus bears significant responsibility for the current state of athletics in America. This, coupled with the fact that the system to achieve national reform exists, not at the high school or youth levels, but at the university level, means that the road to reform begins and ends at higher education’s doorstep. As a result of the combination of these dynamics, college athletics reform is no longer about academic fraud, illegal payments, overcommercialization , and skyrocketing coaches’ contracts. Today, college athletic reform is about the role that sports plays in our lives, schools, and communities. It is about the values we will pass on to our children. It is about public health. It is about reaffirming the importance of education for our personal and national well being. In other words, 27 BEYOND THE IVY-COVERED WALLS reform is...