Athletics have always been an essential component of a liberal education, but recently sports in school have come under attack. If, because of that, athletics are cut or eliminated from schools, the quality of education would likely be harmed.

There is a <href="#.vew0avnf_to">relatively consistent body of research showing that students who participate in athleticstend to fare significantly better both in school and in later life. Participating in sports, like playing in the school band or competing on the debate team, are cognitively and organizationally demanding activities that help convey self-discipline and leadership skills. This is especially true for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In addition, our own research has found that schools that offer more sports and field more successful teams produce higher test scores and graduation rates. So, there is no reason to believe that schools that emphasize sports do so at the expense of other educational goals.

What is the case against sports in schools? People sometimes cite the bad behavior of some student athletes, such as recent incidents of sports-related hazing in New Jersey. Quite often they refer to fictionalized accounts of sports corrupting education, as in the movie "Varsity Blues." But selective anecdotes and fiction do not constitute generalizable evidence.

Others refer to the fact that certain high-achieving countries, such as South Korea and Finland, .... This may be true, but then again many low-achieving countries also lack school sports programs. There is no reason to believe that the academic success of students in South Korea or Finland has anything to do with the absence of school athletics rather than with some other feature of those countries.

It is strange that as many education advocates are seeking a “broader, bolder” approach that expands the responsibilities of schools to include social work, medical care and food provision, supporters of that vision are also often seeking to shrink school activities by eliminating sports. They are also fighting to prevent cuts in school-sponsored extracurricular activities such as band, debate and the arts. Why are sports on the chopping block when these other elements of a well-rounded education need to be preserved?

The evidence suggests students benefit from schools that offer a variety of enriching activities, including sports. Singling out sports for elimination while fighting to preserve other elements of a liberal education betrays an elitist bias that reveals more about the opponents of athletics than it says about the research on what helps students.