High School Varsity Sports should be eliminated

My opponent has shown that he does not disagree in what I have said about the small fraction of people who played high school sports who play professional sports. However, my opponent brings up a new point that I will need to address. This point is that "by eliminating high school varsity sports, we are denying this group of people (the less than 1% of people who make professional sports leagues) the chance to even participate in a more competitive environment with other people of similar skill levels." As I stated earlier, there are other leagues outside of the high school varsity teams that compete at high school varsity levels. Travel teams, and public city leagues offer very competitive leagues and can lead a player to gain the skills and fundamentals necessary to play in the professional sport of their choosing. Of course, it is up to the individual player whether or not he will practice or be disciplined out side of the sport. Which brings me to my next point. I feel that personal discipline, training, and practice outside of the games and practices that varsity sports offer, make each athlete talented enough to enter their professional sport. Suppose a player decides not to play in high school, but practices at home and decides to go out for his college team, in order to further pursue a professional career. High school is not a necessary component in making a professional player. A small point that I would like to make is the story of Michael Jordan's high school career. "Jordan loved sports but failed to make his high school basketball team as a sophomore. He continued to practice and made the team the next year." (1) A player with the natural talent and love for the game can still drive himself to a professional career outside the parameters of a varsity sport. I have shown that high school varsity sports are not necessary for entry into the field of professional sports, that most high school players do not make it to a professional level, and that not all varsity sports promote teamwork and cooperation as stated in my opponents opening argument. Now to answer the big question: Should we eliminate all varsity sports? I feel that this is a loaded question, because high school sports don't have any outright negative effects on kids. It contains sportsmanship, competition, and builds athleticism in students. Although I have shown that it is unnecessary under the contexts of Con's argument, I have to address "why" we should eliminate varsity sports. As Pro, I have to say that we could offer better alternatives than what varsity sports offer to kids of the same age. I will make a few small points here: A) Not all athletes attend high school. For the athletes that do attend high school, they do not get the chance to play those kids who did not attend high school. Therefore, we should replace varsity sports with a league that everyone can try out for in the city, and offer different levels of competition for different caliber athletes. B) Varsity sports generally entail more spending, to pay for the coaches, assistant coaches, equipment, jerseys and so on. This is often paid for by asking for handouts, fundraisers, and donations by alumni of the school. C) Families who are involved in select teams or travel teams do spend a great deal of time together. The result is often closer bonds between family members. The higher level of competition means that the skills of the athletes also improve. For talented young athletes, participation in a select team can be a stepping stone to a spot on a college team or even a pro tryout. (2) D) Travel teams often get a wider range of talented teams from other divisions because they are not restricted to the district or the other local high school teams. (1) http://www.notablebiographies.com... (2) http://grandparents.about.com...