I&#x27;ve never understood <i>why</i> the American model of mixing academics with athletics came to existence. I understand why it <i>continues</i>, of course, since the status quo nearly always does.<p>The Australian(&#x2F;European? I&#x27;m not sure) model of having schools only passingly involved with athletics, and then having the athletics clubs and associations as separate entities just makes much more sense to me.<p>First, it allows for amateur sports to continue well past high school&#x2F;college, allowing those who compete for fun and fitness to do so. Sports, after all, shouldn&#x27;t just something you watch on TV once you&#x27;re out of school.<p>Second, apart from providing a fun diversion to students in much the same way as a video gaming club might do, why should any teaching institution be involved in sports? Surely that&#x27;s outside the core mission.