The Dilemma of School and University Sports Versus Competitive or Professional Sports

Written by Dr. Hamada Alantably

To begin with, I would like to point out that my opinion might be shocking or contrary to the views of many esteemed colleagues and professors, but it stems from my personal convictions and my close monitoring of all stages across school, university, and competitive sports alike.

School and university sports have never been producers of athletic champions or breeding grounds for national teams. Quite the contrary—they are consumers of the athletic product generated by sports clubs. We do not forge champions in our schools or universities; rather, we live off the product delivered to us ready-made by the clubs, and we merely bask in its glory. All past attempts at projects whose primary goal was talent discovery were always truncated or flawed due to the absence of a clear vision and objective. These projects were tied to a decision-making official who initiated them without anchoring them in a comprehensive goal built on scientific foundations. Such a goal requires execution through specific procedures that ensure product quality from the initial stages of scouting and guidance all the way to reaching the podiums of competitive and professional sports.

If you believe my view is incorrect, I challenge each of us to try and name even a single champion produced exclusively by school or university sports.

As I mentioned earlier, we receive the athlete ready-made. This entire process relies on the athlete’s family recognizing the importance of sports and steering them toward it, or on the child’s own personal drive to pursue athletics. Let us ask ourselves a hard question: Is the physical education teacher truly qualified to perform a role that extends beyond barely managing a standard physical education class? We must look honestly at the nature of the output produced by our colleges and departments. Furthermore, would club coaches ever volunteer to go into schools without any real financial return for their efforts?

I believe the situation requires a concerted effort and a genuine partnership between clubs and sports federations on one hand, and the educational sector on the other, backed by true governmental sponsorship through a concrete, phased national project spanning from scouting to the podium—independent of any single official’s tenure.

We need to provide a fertile environment capable of producing high-value athletes. The broad base within schools is a true gold and diamond mine; it simply needs skilled prospectors inside that mine, followed by the manufacturing stages. I am well aware of the numerous attempts made by ministries of sports and education under various titles from time to time and from one country to another—and I personally worked in one of those national projects in my home country, Egypt. However, I witnessed a complete absence of vision and purpose in them; they were nothing more than routine bureaucratic government work and a cash cow for some (with all due apologies to all respected officials).

Yet, look at the actual output and what those attempts have yielded. The lack of a genuine goal and sincere desire from all parties involved is the decisive factor in this matter.

I apologize for the length—this is simply my perspective. Please accept my warmest regards and utmost appreciation, my dear friends and professors.

By Dr. Hamada Alantably