In defense of school sports

In response to "Cut Teams before classes" [Letters, Feb. 21], I now understand the importance a sport can make in a child's life by helping them build self-confidence and helping them want to do well. Sports have taught my daughter discipline, taught her you have to work at something to achieve your goals and yet have also taught her that not always being on top is also OK, as long as you did your best. Sports have taught her to accept setbacks such as injuries.

There was a time I would have said sports should go first, but now I realize they are to be taken very seriously and should not be put on the cutting board so fast.

Joyce Mongitore, Massapequa

Many people believe that only courses like math and science are important and that we don't need extracurricular activities like athletics. However, what we have to realize is that learning doesn't only take place in the classroom.

What athletics can teach students are lessons that they will be able to carry with them throughout their lives. They may also be the saving grace for students who can only seem to find their place in high school on the football field, basketball court, balance beam or in the pool. Why would we want to take all that away?

Caralyn Vasquez, Old Bethpage

Athletics fall into a category I refer to as the "AAA Club" for initial budget cuts in most school systems - art, athletics, and afterschool activities.

While it's true that most of our kids will not go on to play professional sports, it is also true that most of our kids will not become physicists, mathematicians or literary scholars, so maybe we can rule out the need for science, math, and English in our schools.

How many times have we heard the expression, "I would take street smarts over book smarts any day?'' Well, organized school athletics provide a level of character and maturity that can't be learned in the classroom. Sportsmanship, teamwork, discipline and social development are characteristics that become the nucleus of who we are as individuals and are traits often developed through participation in organized athletics.

Lou Desiderio, South Huntington