While at work today, my friend Tara said something that was interesting. We'd just got a new book, inside it thanked the government of Canada for it's support. She said that always made her laugh because the amount of money the goverment actually gives to help people is laughable. She then said that the government was negligent because they didn't provide money for athletics in Canada.
She feels that in not providing funds for there to be athletic scholarships for people who are proficient in sports they are commiting a great faux pas.
So, everyone I've asked tonight agrees with her, I don't.
There's the argument that people who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to go to university can go because they happen to have this extraneous skill. Sure, that's a good point, but only from a sentimental point of view.
There's the argument that in sending our athletes to the US (where they obviously do give out athletic scholarships) that we're losing money. I don't really see how. If it's an Olympic sport, the athlete has to represent Canada unless they've changed their citizenship, which isn't as easy as one would think. If it's baseball, there's nowhere to play in Canada anyway, so of course they'll go to the US. Ditto for basketball. If it's hockey, it doesn't matter where you play, but there's certainly not a shortage of hockey teams in Canada. Where are we losing out exactly?
Also, out of all the people I know that actually ended up in school on some form of sports scholarship, I'll bet I know 2 that actually managed to stay there. Most were sent home after 1 year because they weren't getting the marks required to stay there. What a waste of money, considering they didn't end up with an education.
Posted by Michelle at April 23, 2003 09:38 PM