The globalization of basketball is
a huge change that will better the sport greatly. As of right now, soccer is the most famous
sport in the entire world. The amount of
viewers that tune into the World Cup and the crowds that come out to see soccer
games is incredible. Basketball is
looking to gain this much acclaim and power in the world. The developments that are helping this cause
are the outreach and power of the NBA.
The NBA is reaching out to countries like Canada, many countries in
Africa, and Mexico. The National
Basketball League is the premier basketball league in the entire world and
every basketball player across the country would like to play in this league. Many times players will become the best and
most respectable players in their own home country’s leagues before moving to
the NBA to get the best pay possible. Players
like Dirk Nowitzki, Serge Ibaka, and Yao Ming, have been huge in helping to
bring the NBA to their respectable countries and spread it across the
world. Every kid from across the world
have people they look up to and if these people are playing in the NBA, then
these kids will want to watch the NBA and their favorite player play. The expansion of basketball in the world is
evident whenever somebody famous like Kobe Bryant goes to visit another country
and gets huge groups of people wanting to see him. Kobe Bryant’s influence in China is huge
still to this day.
One of
the reasons why basketball has begun to grow so quickly across the world is
because of how cheap it is and where you can play it. It is easy to build a basketball hoop in an
area, whether it’s on concrete, dirt, or a wood floor. The court does not take up that much space
and even then, a full court is not needed to enjoy basketball games. Whenever a sport can be played in a poor
environment, that sport will be able to touch many people across the country,
rich or poor.
A large place where basketball
has skyrocketed is in China. There are
over a billion people in China and these people are being influenced largely by
Chinese players having successful careers in the NBA, like Yao Ming and Jeremy
Lin. Whenever young kids see players
like this being successful, they look up to them and want to play
basketball. Another large place of
basketball globalization is in Africa.
Players like Serge Ibaka and Hakeem Olajuwon have helped largely to
influence the spread of affordable basketball hoops and balls in these
areas. The NBA also played their first
game ever in Africa over the summer, in which it was Team Africa vs. Team World.
Another large place that basketball growth has been shown is in areas of
Canada, especially Toronto. Ever since
the NBA decided to move up north and give Canada a chance to have large growth
of the sport. Players like Andrew
Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and Steve Nash show the power of basketball in
Canada. Also, there has been a large
influx of players from other countries to come to America prep basketball
schools in order to better their skills.
Players from all over the country will move to America with the power of
their basketball skills and have a shot at a very good education and a chance
at making the NBA.
Bishop McDevitt football dominates District 3 football.
There
is a current struggle in high school sports that need to be addressed. The public vs. private school sports battle
is a real issue that must be taken care of.
Private schools are given the right to recruit, kids may go to their
school that live out of the district, and they are typically better funded than
public schools. This issue has been
noticed and addressed by states nationwide.
First of all, there are many states
that have not had a true issue with this so they have not made any laws or
rules to plan against it. In other
states, the private schools and public schools compete in separate bodies of
athletics and have different state championships. This works well in tearing down the
boundaries that separate the two teams so that they will not have to compete
against each other. Other states use a
multiplier which makes the school multiply their population size by a certain
amount because they are private. This
multiplier makes the state championships more competitive because the private
schools must move up in classifications and compete against bigger schools with
a lot more students.
The
pros of keeping the schools together in the state championships is that then
the state will have a true state champion and everyone competes in the
state. The schools will be able to
create rivalries and maintain a strong competition throughout playoffs. And if private schools are allowed to play
public schools, than travel for private schools would be less because there are
more public schools in a small density.
The
cons of keeping the schools together in the state championships is the
domination of private schools throughout playoffs. The private schools are allowed to recruit
players and provide financial aid to students that would like to come to their
school for athletics. Many private
schools are run like colleges in how they draw players to come to their school
with the lure of a competitive team, nice facilities/gear, and a high-class
education. The private schools that I
have seen in our area recruit players from out of their jurisdiction just to
have the most competitive athletes possible.
For example, Bishop McDevitt has won the 3A District championship 6
years in a row, while having players from Harrisburg, Central Dauphin, Central
Dauphin East, Susquehanna Township, Bermudian Springs, Cedar Cliff,
Mechanicsburg, and other schools in the area.
Another dominant private school in the area is York Catholic in girls’
basketball because they have won the 2A District championship 11 years in a
row. These schools recruit people from
around their area in order to give themselves the best teams possible, while
public schools are at a disadvantage because they are not allowed to recruit
players.
My
stand on this issue is that the private schools and public schools should be
split up and not compete against each other.
The private schools are too dominant in state championships and they are
a huge disadvantage to public schools who do not get to have the same rights as
private schools. At worst, there should be
a multiplier to force schools to move up classifications and make the
competitions more competitive for everyone.
Private schools have too many advantages over public schools to be in
competition with them.
