Athletes are being exploited! When did this start?
NCAA is horrid. Professional sports are meat grinders so it does make one consider the emphasis placed on sports.
If I was raising kids again - I'd send them to robot camp and have them dabble in golf and tennis.... AKA Country Club sports for the long term contacts they might provide. I would not allow them to risk their bodies playing competitive sports - short of college scholarship or professional sports which represent a few percent meaning there is higher risk than upside offered.
Spare me the life lessons, teamwork and competing nonsense. The kids in the band learn the same things as the football team on those things. Everything in life is a competition so you don't need sports to find things to compete in. Sports does not teach or afford better opportunities than other activities for exposure to these life lessons.
If you've ever had to listen to someone tell you how great they were back in '75 I would tell you that is proof that sports may actually stunt personal development when the realization that you are not the next Babe Ruth kicks in and you never get past it. Glory Days syndrome is one of the most pitiful things there is. Never met a kid from the band at a bar wearing anyone out telling you about that time they played American Pie at Homecoming half time like Don McLean. I suffered through more stories of heroism in lost district playoff games than I can shake a sick at though.