Academics First, do you realize how many students would either drop out of school or fail classes because they no longer have a sport to play? There are several athletes that go to tutoring after school and really work hard to keep their grades up just so they can put on those football pads Friday night and be a part of a team. Some of the atheletes consider their team their family and that is the only good thing they have in their life. In our home school comes first and playing sports is a reward for hard work, but not all students have parents at home who care. And if athletics are cut and those kids are running the streets and getting into trouble you will then see the benefit of sports.