6 ms·

Where on earth do you think inner city kids are playing water polo and golf? Just because golf courses aren't that expensive to play on doesn't mean they're acc

Where on earth do you think inner city kids are playing water polo and golf? Just because golf courses aren't that expensive to play on doesn't mean they're accessible to poor people (plus there's the cost of clubs, obviously). And water polo... even if there are public pools near you, they probably aren't dedicating space for competitive water polo.

kevincrane 6y ago
I played water polo at my public high school and only had to buy a swimsuit?
- Balgair 6y ago
  Yeah, it's a pretty common HS sport on the west coast and in states that don't freeze. Any school with a pool nearby may have a team. My HS shared the pool with three other HS teams during after-school practice.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  Your public high school had a swimming pool?
  - kevincrane 6y ago
    In California (or at least my part of it) it's pretty common.
    - Balgair 6y ago
      I'll echo this. Most HSs that I know of in CA have pools. But I can't find any info online about percentages or breakdowns (urban, rural, suburban, etc). I'd say west-coast states and those that don't freeze have an easier time with pool upkeep and year round usage.
      - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
        Yeah, I don't have hard information on this either, but I get the impression that it's a much different calculation if you're in a climate where the pool has to be indoors.
- CyberDildonics 6y ago
  That is a very strange question
- renewiltord 6y ago
  I think you'd know better than us, honestly. Did you play water polo in high school and only buy a swimsuit?
- cultus 6y ago
  The vast majority of high schools where I'm from don't have public pools. Pools have also been less available historically to Blacks. After segregation ended, many jurisdictions defunded public pools rather than fund desegregated pools. Instead, wealthier whites used private ones. For a brief history: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-expert-troubled-history-black-people-have-had-swimming https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-expert-troubled-history-bla...
  - kevincrane 6y ago
    Oh yeah, I don't dispute the history of pools in America in general of having a lot of racist gatekeeping behind them, that's absolutely true. I was just saying that swimming and water polo are super cheap sports to participate in as an athlete.
    - watwut 6y ago
      Swimming is cheap only if there is cheap pool available.
    - teachrdan 6y ago
      But to become a competitive student athlete accomplished enough to get into a school like Berkeley, you have to go to a high school with its own pool, coach, and roster of fellow competitive swimmers. When it comes to who gets these coveted "easy" seats for college admissions, it's not enough to say that the sport is hypothetically inexpensive to participate in. You have to look at all the resources that make it possible to become an elite athlete in that sport. Most public schools--especially poor ones--don't have those resources.
      - Balgair 6y ago
        Not always true. One of the girls at one of the schools near us didn't have any of that (most likely). I think they shared their pool with a few teams though. I know they didn't have their own coach, and I know that she was the stand-out star of the team. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Seidemann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Seidemann Their demographics are white, but not majority, with ~30% hispanic. I don't know the demo in 2006 though: https://www.greatschools.org/california/pleasant-hill/466-College-Park-High-School/#Race_ethnicity*College_readiness*Overview https://www.greatschools.org/california/pleasant-hill/466-Co... Natural talent is still a thing. Though I do agree that more $$$ = better training. David Epstein's Range talks a lot about training in your younger years. He has a much better argument than me, but the gist is that you have to have a 'trial' period before you commit (depending on sport conditions). In 'unkind' (his term) sports, if you overtrain early, you'll burn out. I'd say Water Polo and Volleyball are those kids of sports. Swimming, on the other hand, is a 'kind' sport where early identification and rigorsous training are beneficial. It's a really good book: https://davidepstein.com/the-range/ https://davidepstein.com/the-range/
- awillen 6y ago
  But what public high school was it? Public is by no means equivalent to located in a poor area or underfunded.
rmk 6y ago
Inner city kids would be considered poor, particularly time-poor (parents/caregivers have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet). There are the rich, the poor and the (majority) middling sort. For the majority, wouldn't water polo be affordable? I don't know about golf, though, but given that most cities have public golf courses, perhaps golf is also in the reach of most folks who want to play.

kevincrane 6y ago

I played water polo at my public high school and only had to buy a swimsuit?

Balgair 6y ago
Yeah, it's a pretty common HS sport on the west coast and in states that don't freeze. Any school with a pool nearby may have a team. My HS shared the pool with three other HS teams during after-school practice.
oh_sigh 6y ago
Your public high school had a swimming pool?
- kevincrane 6y ago
  In California (or at least my part of it) it's pretty common.
  - Balgair 6y ago
    I'll echo this. Most HSs that I know of in CA have pools. But I can't find any info online about percentages or breakdowns (urban, rural, suburban, etc). I'd say west-coast states and those that don't freeze have an easier time with pool upkeep and year round usage.
    - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
      Yeah, I don't have hard information on this either, but I get the impression that it's a much different calculation if you're in a climate where the pool has to be indoors.
CyberDildonics 6y ago
That is a very strange question
renewiltord 6y ago
I think you'd know better than us, honestly. Did you play water polo in high school and only buy a swimsuit?
cultus 6y ago
The vast majority of high schools where I'm from don't have public pools. Pools have also been less available historically to Blacks. After segregation ended, many jurisdictions defunded public pools rather than fund desegregated pools. Instead, wealthier whites used private ones. For a brief history: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-expert-troubled-history-black-people-have-had-swimming https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-expert-troubled-history-bla...
- kevincrane 6y ago
  Oh yeah, I don't dispute the history of pools in America in general of having a lot of racist gatekeeping behind them, that's absolutely true. I was just saying that swimming and water polo are super cheap sports to participate in as an athlete.
  - watwut 6y ago
    Swimming is cheap only if there is cheap pool available.
  - teachrdan 6y ago
    But to become a competitive student athlete accomplished enough to get into a school like Berkeley, you have to go to a high school with its own pool, coach, and roster of fellow competitive swimmers. When it comes to who gets these coveted "easy" seats for college admissions, it's not enough to say that the sport is hypothetically inexpensive to participate in. You have to look at all the resources that make it possible to become an elite athlete in that sport. Most public schools--especially poor ones--don't have those resources.
    - Balgair 6y ago
      Not always true. One of the girls at one of the schools near us didn't have any of that (most likely). I think they shared their pool with a few teams though. I know they didn't have their own coach, and I know that she was the stand-out star of the team. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Seidemann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Seidemann Their demographics are white, but not majority, with ~30% hispanic. I don't know the demo in 2006 though: https://www.greatschools.org/california/pleasant-hill/466-College-Park-High-School/#Race_ethnicity*College_readiness*Overview https://www.greatschools.org/california/pleasant-hill/466-Co... Natural talent is still a thing. Though I do agree that more $$$ = better training. David Epstein's Range talks a lot about training in your younger years. He has a much better argument than me, but the gist is that you have to have a 'trial' period before you commit (depending on sport conditions). In 'unkind' (his term) sports, if you overtrain early, you'll burn out. I'd say Water Polo and Volleyball are those kids of sports. Swimming, on the other hand, is a 'kind' sport where early identification and rigorsous training are beneficial. It's a really good book: https://davidepstein.com/the-range/ https://davidepstein.com/the-range/
awillen 6y ago
But what public high school was it? Public is by no means equivalent to located in a poor area or underfunded.

rmk 6y ago

Inner city kids would be considered poor, particularly time-poor (parents/caregivers have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet). There are the rich, the poor and the (majority) middling sort. For the majority, wouldn't water polo be affordable? I don't know about golf, though, but given that most cities have public golf courses, perhaps golf is also in the reach of most folks who want to play.