Recent news about rich parents  gaming  the system to get their offspring into the “right” colleges has spawned conversations about the state of things in America.

I, of course, have my two cents to add to the discussion, especially where sports are concerned.

Sports were one of the avenues to acceptance that the offenders employed to get their over-privileged darlings into elite schools- doctoring photos , generating fictitious resumes and bribing coaches. As if collegiate sports were not tainted enough already.

Which led me to ponder, is there any purity left in sports at all?

Money and politics run college sports- that we know.  And even at the secondary level, for every  high school athlete who shows even a modicum of promise, there is a parent- advocate pushing  to position their child for a college scholarship.

And, sadly, even youngsters can’t play a stress free game without “encouragement”  from the stands. At my home town Little League field, years ago officials moved the bleachers from behind home plate out to center field where shouted criticisms  from parents were less disruptive.

So, is there any place where a game can be played simply for the joy of it?

I suggest that there is.

Special Olympics creates opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities. There are 12,000 in Connecticut alone competing year round in 28 different sports. They train to win, of course, but their focus is to do the best they can and enjoy the process. And part of Special Olympics is Unified Sports which partners Special Olympians with elementary, middle and high school students to train and play together in friendly competition.

And here’s  another area where sports are played for the best of reasons. When and wherever everyday folks gather to play for someone else’s benefit. To me that is sport at its most noble, and the pages of sportingAcause.com are full of them.