By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK
M.P., a home-schooling mother, writes to comment upon the November 12 edition of First Teachers, in which another reader, S.M., criticized the emphasis on sports in many Catholic high schools. S.M. observed that “many Catholic schools have evolved primarily to support athletics, with academics becoming secondary.”
M.P. agrees: “Many people today behave as if the education model we use for public schooling, and by extension private and parochial schooling, is the only way in which to educate children. The school has become the idol of American parents. Everything revolves around the school. Whatever the school says is done. School is no longer an extension of the family. It has become instead the center of the family. It dictates the life of the family.”
M.P. continues, “I had to laugh at S.M.’s lament that Catholic schools now primarily support athletics. Catholic schools today follow the same model as public schools. In fact, they market themselves as just like public schools — ‘only better.’ Some parishes are huge precisely because they have a school and not because the families are drawn to the church because of their faith.
“Like public schools, the parish school has become the idol in the families’ life. Everything revolves around what the school wants. In some parishes it is essentially the school that runs the parish, with the parish dependent upon the high tuition payments generated by the parish school.
“So, of course, the Catholic schools are becoming athletics-centered. They are simply following the path of public schools, and that’s what the parents want. If parents were truly interested in their children’s faith rather than a private school that is ‘better than public schools,’ they would be flocking to the independent Catholic schools that are built on promoting and incorporating the faith into children’s lives.”
Are S.M. and M.P. correct about the excessive emphasis on athletics in our Catholic high schools? First Teachers would welcome hearing our readers’ opinions on this matter to get a perspective on what is going on around the country, since my own experience is limited to the high schools in New York City, where I grew up, and in Connecticut, where I now live.
In New York City, there are three or four Catholic high schools that are perennial basketball powerhouses. In Connecticut, a handful of Catholic high schools dominate the state in football and hockey. My impression is that a similar pattern can be found in most parts of the United States.
Why do these Catholic schools dominate? The usual explanation one hears is that they are “all-star” teams of a sort, drawing outstanding players from many surrounding sections of the state, while public schools are limited to the pool of talent that happens to be available among their student bodies in any given year.
But that does not fully answer the question. What still must be answered is why outstanding athletes would prefer to go to a Catholic high school, where tuition is charged, than to their local public school. Not all these athletes are Catholic. Not all are committed students looking for a better academic environment.
The first answer that comes to mind is that Catholic high schools that establish a reputation for their athletic programs will attract top athletes because these athletes think it will give them the opportunity to be seen by college recruiters with scholarship offers.
But that leaves us with the question of why some Catholic high schools go out of their way to support highly successful athletic teams, especially when one considers that only a portion of their student bodies actually plays on the school team?
In fact, the presence on campus of outstanding athletes who enroll in the Catholic school in an effort to be seen by college recruiters often denies students who were not recruited the chance to play high school sports. The recruited athletes take up most of the spots on the roster.
I don’t know if the answer will please S.M. and M.P., but it is clear: A school’s reputation as an athletic power gives it a prestige that draws prospective, tuition-paying students, athletes and non-athletes alike. Young men who might not be willing to attend a religious school that is seen by their peers as “pious,” “prim and proper,” and “soft,” a place for “holy-rollers,” will have a different view of a school that is a sports powerhouse.
They’ll be proud to wear the school’s jacket around their neighborhoods. The administrations at Catholic high schools that promote high-level athletic programs are dealing with that reality. There may be some administrators who look the other way when unethical recruiting of athletes goes on, or when compromises are made to ensure that athletes stay academically eligible to participate in sports. There is no excuse for that.
But my hunch is that most of those in charge of Catholic high schools know where to draw the line. I am curious to see what our readers will have to say on the topic. Fire away.
T.M.V., a correspondent from Minnesota, offers his thoughts on another aspect of S.M.’s letter. “I take exception to S.M.’s contention that ‘adult theology’ programs held in our parishes can be effective in teaching the faith. There is an adult theology program held at [a Catholic college] in Minnesota. I attended two sessions and concluded it was worthless. Adult theology is not religion. My impression was that the intention was to make people feel good without doing good. Christ spent little time preaching theology, think the Beatitudes.”
T.M.V. goes on to point out that Catholic schools can be a “force for evangelization.” Indeed, he suggests that “Catholic schools that provide superior education could offer to take students from public schools with poor track records. The public schools in this part of Minnesota provide inferior education at a cost of $20,000 per student. Catholic schools cost less than half that figure. The public school students would not be required to take religion.
“This would be a tremendous saving to the community as a whole, while at the same time providing an opportunity for the Church to evangelize. Even if these public school students do not take religion courses while attending parish schools, they will experience the uplifting Catholic atmosphere that parish schools provide. This well may draw them to Catholicism as they go on in life.”
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Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about this and other educational issues. The e-mail address for First Teachers is fitzpatrijames@sbcglobal.net, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 15, Wallingford, CT 06492.
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