There are only a few like Tom Brady, Lebron James, Wayne Gretsky, Clayton Kershaw, and David Beckham. Your kid likely would only have a 2% chance of coming out of high school with a scholarship, even less going professional. Sure they probably won’t go pro or get college tuition covered, but physical recreation is helpful for one’s livelihood beyond a career; people also shouldn’t need to pay tuition to get a college education. Athletics are vital to the growth of healthy communities. These games teach us to work together and how practice and persistence make perfection. Studies have shown that students who play sports, on average, report higher happiness, better grades, better health, and better long-term income. We should support minor league teams, provide equal pay for our national teams, and compensate amateur athletes. Most importantly, we must all be willing to get involved locally to help our pastimes flourish in our communities.
HOW COMMUNITIES BENEFIT FROM SPORTS
The overwhelming majority of women who work in a c-suite position, 94%, are former athletes. According to a study published in Human Kinetics, athletes thrive in two leadership skills compared to the general population, “management of self” and “management of feelings.” Management of self includes “attitudes toward oneself and consideration for others’ well-being.” Management of feelings is one’s ability to “motivate coworkers to elicit feelings of competence and meaning from their work.” The experience of having to weather a variety of emotional states is inherent in the highs of winning and achievement and the sting of loss and hard practice. Knowing how to fit in as a part of a bigger picture and control what one can is crucial in growing as an athlete. To reach greatness in many sports, one must also learn how to help the needs of others. Learning to balance needs, value practice, hold yourself in esteem and perform better health habits also contributes to excelling in the classroom. On average, 97% of student-athletes graduate high school compared to 87% of non-athletes and have higher GPAs. Kids need to learn to handle others’ needs. Kids need humility and determination to push through success and adversity and focus on what they can control. Athletics helps kids develop those traits and skills.
Beyond forging leaders of tomorrow, sports are great fun keeping kids happy, healthy, more confident, social, and out of trouble. After the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Doha Declaration was adopted. One component of this declaration was a strategy to use athletics to reduce crime. They posited building up the resilience of at-risk youth through skill strengthening and more positive adult-supervised social relationships would reduce crime. A University of Michigan study showed major crime and school suspension were lower in schools with more sports participation. Keeping kids positively stimulated is necessary for children’s development and the safety of our communities.
WHAT’S CONGRESS PITCHING?
As always at The People’s Basics, we want to connect back to tangible action you all can take to help improve the situation. In addition to encouraging you all to get active in your communities, we also want to inform you of legislation related to sports. Currently, the main issues being legislated in Congress and various states are four items:
Minor league relief
Equal pay
Allowing college athletes to be paid
Various state-level transgender ban bills.
When it comes to minor league sports, currently, there is consideration of bailouts for some minor league baseball teams. This is due to the cost of lockdowns imposed in 2020. Bill H.R. 4150 “Minor League Baseball Relief Act” addresses this.
EQUAL PAY AND RESPECT
There are two bills in Congress on equal pay in athletics: H.R. 4163 “Even Playing Field Act” and H.R. 1644 “GOALS Act.” Pertinent to encouraging women to play these games as currently, the compensation and thus media attention across gender is quite disparate. Depending on the sport, the compensation rate averages 15-100% higher for men than women. This situation isn’t going to be remedied across the board until audience demand starts to shift too. Our government, however, can start by not providing sanctions or grants to athletic bodies furthering the divide.
The Even Playing Field Act addresses pay equity for amateur athletes and personnel. The act requires an amateur sports organization “provides equal investment, promotional support, working conditions… and…compensation to all amateur athletes, without discrimination based on sex.”
The GOALS Act addresses a specific instance of pay disparity in the compensation of men’s and women’s world cup teams. The act “prohibits the use of funds for the 2026 World Cup until the U.S. Soccer Federation agrees to provide equitable pay to…U.S. Women’s National Team” We believe it’s essential to encourage the growth of athletics, so we must encourage both men and women to play. To do this, we must ensure we treat athletes with similar respect and compensation regardless of gender.
AMATEURS SHOULD BE ALLOWED PAY
The third topic of sports legislation is the idea of paying college athletes. Although more impactful pushes have come from states like California on NCAA teams allowing athletes to earn compensation, there is still federal legislation. S. 238 “College Athlete Economic Freedom Act” is one such bill. The bill “establishes a federal right for college athletes to market the use of their athletic reputation.” It does this by “prohibiting colleges and intercollegiate athletic associations from setting or enforcing rules that restrict this right.” Although this allows amateur athletes compensation, it does not require the league to provide profit sharing nor require schools to pay athletes. Appropriate for me to allow athletes their rights while maintaining some of the spirits of amateur athletics. Small schools should not have to compete with wallets with larger, sometimes even public, universities. Athletes, however, should be able to monetize their abilities.
TRANSGENDER ATHLETIC COMPETITION
The fourth and final topic is the spread of laws banning transgender individuals from participating in sports. Bills banning transgender individual participation in sports have been introduced in 31 states. In Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, their governors signed them into law. Polling on this issue shows 62% of Americans believe transgender athletes should “play on teams that match their birth gender.” A recent study in the British Journal of Sports medicine showed a significant difference between trans and cis women. Individuals in their studies who were transitioning performed 31% more pushups before hormone therapy and 12% higher after two years of hormone therapy. Advocates for the ban claim their position is to keep the playing field fair for women to compete. Critics call that a false argument and say the proposals are used to discriminate against transgender Americans. These proposals, they say, also risk opening the door to the humiliating treatment of women and girls who don’t fit culturally accepted notions of femininity. According to Dr. Eric Vilain in an interview with NPR:
“We know that men have, on average, an advantage in performance in athletics of about 10% to 12% over women…question is whether there is in real life, during actual competitions, an advantage of performance linked to this male hormone and whether trans athletes are systematically winning all competitions. The answer to this latter question, are trans athletes winning everything, is simple — that’s not the case. And higher levels of the male hormone testosterone are associated with better performance only in a very small number of athletic disciplines: 400 meters, 800 meters, hammer throw, pole vault”
“And lastly, I would say that every sport requires different talents and anatomies for success. So I think we should focus on celebrating this diversity, rather than focusing on relative notions of fairness. For example, the body of a marathon runner is extremely different from the body of a shot put champion…a transwoman athlete may have some advantage on the basketball field because of her height but would be at a disadvantage in gymnastics. So it’s complicated.”
I see the arguments on both sides and support leagues being able to choose their own policies on this matter. Leagues that do choose to include trans women should do so after a reasonable transition period to ensure fair competition. Leagues that do not choose to include trans women should try to make other accommodations such as increasing gender-neutral competition opportunities.
A COMMUNITY SLAM DUNK
Sports aren’t just any random game. For many communities, it’s a way of life, both a place and experience to come together, establish a communal identity and safely compete. It inspires hope for many young boys and girls that if they work hard enough, they too can be great regardless of their background. Not only are a select few lucky enough to achieve greatness, many along the way that falls short benefit greatly. Student-athletes, on average, still live healthier, more educated, more social, and more economically secure lives.
Athletics foster stronger & more sustainable communities. We should invest in future generations of athletes and bring equality to the disenfranchised. Most importantly, change starts with ourselves. Get involved in your local leagues or create one if one doesn’t exist yet. Be the change you want to see. Sports is a means of mutually aiding your community.
Call your Congress members to ask what they’re doing to inspire, socialize, heal, educate and stimulate the leaders of tomorrow. Ask them what they think about HR 4150, HR 4163, HR 1644, and S. 238. These items are being discussed here to make sports more inclusive, whether by gender, socioeconomic status, or skill so that more people in our community benefit from participating. When more people participate in athletics, our communities benefit from that unity. Please share this article with young parents considering sports for their kids. It’s easiest to get into sports when you start young. Help more parents discover the benefits of sports for kids and get involved in making opportunities for them in your community.