Also, football is much more of a cash cow, even for the HS level. It's a costly sport, but it bring in the bucks as well.

Soccer shouldn't be considered expensive because you don't have to worry about steroid cost, unlike football or baseball

It's funny how so many schools carry only major sports activities. If you do fencing, golf, squash, water polo, lacrosse, or wrestling you've gotta be rich. All these sports have that image and there are clubs across the country that are trying to change it but I doubt it'll go away ever.

-Rudey

I guess it's hard, from a budget standpoint, for most schools. Though wrestling is pretty big in PA, nearly every school as a team. There are only so many sports a school can fund.

Found the article about lacrosse that I read yesterday:
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=1784378&page=1

I didn't know water polo was considered a privileged sport. In HS, it was really popular. Just about every HS had a team. Probably because of the weather though.

Weather and geography, i'm sure. In New England, i'm sure most schools have an ice hockey team but you'd probably rarely, if ever, hear of a HS hocket team south of the Mason-Dixon line. Out your way, water polo is common, but around here, it's pretty much unheard of.

Exactly.

About lacrosse. My friends in HS (and a few of my bros in college) were in the lacrosse "club" not team. Lacrosse is just not a big enough thing out here the way it is out there.

It should be though. Our weather allows it, much better than you guys. One day it should get bigger though I guess. But that means more New England tranplants. Ick

It really does vary by region. In the Boston area, several public high schools have ski teams and sailing teams (not just clubs). Crew teams are limited to the independent schools of which there are many in the area. When I was in school in the Dark Ages, only boys had lax and ice hockey. Now high schools have girls' teams for both as well.

In the DC area, crew is very much a part of high school (public and private). They are designated as hs clubs, not sports so kids pay $$$ to row or cox for their school.

Rich, poor, whatever, pretty much every kid around here plays LAX at one point. All of the public high schools have teams and it's insanely popular. Much like football is in my native SW Pennsylvania (well, maybe not quite THAT crazy. But close).

I't s not the sport -- it's that they go to Duke. Going to Duke (or a school like it) is a privledge. Going to any school that accepts 15% or fewer of their applicants is a privledge. Not only that, but we'd be lying to ourselves if we didn't recognize that most of the kids who go to competitive private colleges are have affluent parents. It's the nature of the society in which we live.

You've talked in the past about not coming from money but you went to a private college. So are you "priviledged"?

Either way, nobody here knows the background of these kids. They could be poor and got athletic scholarships to go to school there and play lax or rich and priviledged.

-Rudey

I hate you:D

Yes.
I'm super lucky, and I would be stupid and lying if I didn't admit it. I mean, going to medical school itself is a privledge.

These kids are lucky enough to play a sport at a top college in the US -- that itself makes them privledged.

You're not lucky; you're obviously very intelligent and you worked your a$$ off to get into and stay in medical school. Don't sell yourself short.

I disagree. I knew many kids on financial aid at Carnegie Mellon and similar schools. It's the priorities one sets for themselves to pay for private education for their children whether during the college and/or K-12 years.

And for those of you who haven't done a FAFSA lately, you'll be in for a surprise. The US Department of Education must think the middle class are millionaires!