Sports Governance
Question #1
Here is the response to the questions asked by and on behalf of the three nephews regarding sports governance. Your feelings about being discriminated on the basis of your weight are justified. Our society commonly classifies people and makes judgments based on such classifications (Puhl & King, 2013). However, there are laws that are in place to protect you against such discrimination. Under the 14th amendment, the coach and principal are under the obligation to offer equal protection under the equal protection clause. The level of scrutiny is critical in evaluating the treatment towards the boys by the state actors. The rational basis is the level of scrutiny applicable to the case of the boys.
The coach is acting on the objective of creating a team that is likely to win in competitive games. Hence, decisions have to be made on the basis of the individual players who are most likely to support the objective. The argument from this perspective points to the possibility that the coach is not violating the law because the classification of the players is on the level of performance and not the body weight, hence not violating the 14th amendment.
Question #2
The Case
In XXX School, there is a plan to stop the football team for girls, citing a shortage of funds dedicated to sports. However, the team for boys will continue to play. The girls have been protesting the termination of their sport, arguing that the decision is being made on a gender discrimination grounds (Hartmann, Sullivan, & Nelson, 2012). Through the advice of a legal representative, the girls are planning to sue the school for discriminating against them girls and terminating their game. The lawyer feels like the girls have a very strong case.
Illustration of Legal Concepts
The concept relating to this case is the Title IX and state Equal Rights Amendments. The law relates to gender discrimination in schools. The girls have the same rights as the boys, and the decisions affecting the girls should equally apply to the boys under the Equal Protection Clause (EPC) of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case relates to unequal treatment on the basis of gender. All the children have equal rights to participate in sporting activities within the school. In fact, equal rights are also observed under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, where discrimination on the basis of gender is illegal.
Question #3
The policy I would like to see changed is the “return-to-play” legislation which was passed in all the 50 states between 2009 and 2014. The law was passed, first in Washington State, after a 13-year-old, Zackery Lystedt, returned to the game immediately after a concussion (NCSL, 2015). The boy collapsed soon after and remained in a coma for nine months. He has remained in a wheelchair since he woke up from the coma. The events that could drive the change is the occurrence of multiple concussions in the same player, even after receiving medical treatment for the initial concussion and being allowed to return to the game.
Among the necessary changes are allowing the affected player to take more than just 24 hours after suffering a concussion before returning to the game. The law was passed rapidly without taking time to research on the basis for its implementation. It should be changed; for instance, to ensure that all coaches receive certification after training on identification of concussions and for schools to hire trained health care providers to provide timely evaluation and treatment of concussions before a player is given the permission to return to the game (NCSL, 2015). Failure in these considerations has caused worse damages on those returning to the game without proper assessment and treatment.
Question #4
“Sport Programs Exist Solely to Create Winning Teams/Individuals.”
Statement to be debated: Sport Programs Exist Solely to Create Winning Teams/Individuals.
My stance: Sports exist in schools for more than a creation of winning teams.
Opening statement: The debate is founded on creating competitive sporting events in schools (Fewell et al., 2012). The proponents argue that sports should be founded on teams that are likely to win. However, I argue that the sports are created for a reason more than winning, primarily to promote physical activity.
My Teams Argument
The primary reason sports should be more than a creation of winning teams is because of the rationale to promote physical activity. Obesity is on the increase because of the inactivity, so making sports about winning will leave out the participation of the children who would benefit from physical activity.
Rebuttal: it is important to motivate the competitive behavior in children, which is at the heart of sporting even long after they complete education.
Response: It is true that sports should be competitive, but the objective should be more than that. They should be in place to create the culture of physical activity.
Opponent’s Arguments
Schools are training some children to become professional sports personalities. Therefore, it is necessary that they are taught the need to be competitive and strive to win in sports.
Rebuttal: Even by encouraging physical activity, professional sports people can still be developed.
Response: Sporting should teach children what it means to put adequate effort to win in games. Hence, sports should be about creating winning teams.
References
Hartmann, D., Sullivan, J., & Nelson, T. (2012). The attitudes and opinions of high school sports participants: An exploratory empirical examination. Sport, Education and Society, 17(1), 113-132.
NCSL (2015). Traumatic Brain Injury Legislation. retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/traumatic-brain-injury-legislation.aspx#1
Puhl, R. M., & King, K. M. (2013). Weight discrimination and bullying. Best practice & research Clinical endocrinology & metabolism, 27(2), 117-127.
Fewell, J. H., Armbruster, D., Ingraham, J., Petersen, A., & Waters, J. S. (2012). Basketball teams as strategic networks. PloS one, 7(11), e47445.
