The Sports Have It

In yet another blow to the fragile egos of high school nerds everywhere, the US Department of Education has recently specified new rules regarding the inclusion of disabled students in scholastic sports.  Arne Duncan, Obama's Secretary of Education,  has likened the new equal rights regulation to the ground breaking Title IX ruling which opened the door of extra and intramural sports to differently gendered persons of the female persuasion.  It occurred to the brain surgeons over at the Dept of Ed that disabled students have been denied equal participation in the character building, teamwork promoting, milieu of school based sports programs. 

I have news for Arne and Barack.  There are far more physically and mentally "normal" kids who have been denied access to the team and character building province of school sports teams simply because they suck at sports.  I know for a fact that there is no way in hell that a kid who can't do a mile in under 8 minutes is going to make the cross country team.  And if he or she is neither in a wheel chair nor a single limb amputee, they ain't making the "para" team either.  Some kids will always flinch when a line drive ball comes barreling toward them at second base.  Are they disabled?   Is a kid who will never be good at hitting a ball over a net with a racket disabled?  Is a kid who just can't seem to kick a ball around a swifter footed 15 year old disabled?  There are plenty of kids, I am certain, who would love the chance to be involved in high school sports, but for the simple fact that they just aren't coordinated enough, they will never get the chance to be a part of the team.  Sports don't discriminate against the overtly disabled.  Sports discriminate against the subtly spastic.

My god, There is an entire Olympics devoted to "special" athletes.  I bet every participant is actually a great athlete regardless of their IQ or extremities status.  So now what?  High schools and colleges will have to open up sports programs for overtly disabled kids?  Will they take money away from the drama and art clubs to pay for these special sports programs?   What about a child who just sucks at catching a ball?  Or sucks at running a mile?  How are they supposed to feel part of a school team?  There are no cheerleaders at a Science Fair or Mathletes meet.  I have never heard of a high school pep rally being held for an extramural debate team competition.  As a card carrying Democrat, I can't complain too much when the Feds engage in social engineering.  But I am afraid there are going to be way more kids who will still feel left out, maybe even more so, than who will benefit from this incompletely thought out regulation.