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Talk:Essay:Title IX Destroys Our Olympic Team (view source)
Revision as of 17:38, August 14, 2008
, 17:38, August 14, 2008High school swim teams.
I will bet you $500 that if title IX is eliminated, almost all olympians will come from private teams, simply because those programs will get better funding and m,ost schools have loads of nitty gritty regulations about things like saftey. Plus, We lost the olympic gold because one gymnist fell once. Unlucky, but is completely irrelevent. We are currently in the lead with medels. If its been around since the 70s, then why is it only now that our tems are suffering.[[User:PastafarianFSM|PastafarianFSM]] 13:33, 14 August 2008 (EDT)
I will bet you $500 that if title IX is eliminated, almost all olympians will come from private teams, simply because those programs will get better funding and m,ost schools have loads of nitty gritty regulations about things like saftey. Plus, We lost the olympic gold because one gymnist fell once. Unlucky, but is completely irrelevent. We are currently in the lead with medels. If its been around since the 70s, then why is it only now that our tems are suffering.[[User:PastafarianFSM|PastafarianFSM]] 13:33, 14 August 2008 (EDT)
You state ''"Public schools and colleges, which are governed by Title IX quotas, produce very few Olympic winners. Instead, private clubs operating outside of Title IX and scraping by on private funding are producing a disproportionate share of winners''. As an example, you state: ''"Michael Phelps, the winner of 5 gold medals in 2008 (as of 8/13/08) trained in the private swim club of North Baltimore AC, rather than his public high school. He did not compete on a college team."''
In fact, swimmers like Michael Phelps usually get their start on the summer teams of local swim clubs at a very young age. YMCAs around the country run competitive swim teams (for kids of all ages) that practice and compete year-round. Most school districts, if they have a swim team at all, (many don't even have a pool) don't begin until middle or even high school. Phelps was competing nationally well before high school age. A nationally competitive swimmer has no need for competition at the local high school level. At many high schools, their top notch team swimmers actually belong to a year-round team; they mostly train with the year-round team and "drop in" to the high school team's meets where it is convenient. Phelps is actually a volunteer helper with his college team. <ref>USA Swimming: Michael Phelps [http://swimming.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/900]</ref>
In other words, the public school system is not set up to produce Olympic-caliber swimmers. Nor, IMHO, should it be. Olympic-caliber athletes need excellent coaches, good facilities, and access to competition at the national level. This is way beyond what the public schools (and the taxpayers) should be expected to provide. Rather, the focus of athletics in the public schools should be to introduce a variety of sports to help put students on the path towards lifetime fitness. In addition, sports that are available to the entire community (such as through the YMCA) rather than just the students of a particular school, provide more access to kids in small private schools and homeschools.--[[User:Hsmom|Hsmom]] 13:38, 14 August 2008 (EDT)