But they can be, if only you know where to look.

School sports have been much maligned, probably more so in recent days. Sideshows such as fights and petty rule infringements threaten to overshadow the gala performance that students present passionately and whole-heartedly.  

In the best of times, school sports are still celebrated but always with hesitance, and sometimes even mild embarrassment if you're seen to be fervent about it. Contrast that with the unbridled joy that spectators unleash during professional sports events such as the World Cup and you get two very different pictures. But if by 'professional' we mean the level of commitment and devotion that the athletes have for their sport, then it should be a crime to label school sports as non-professional.

“It’s a kids game.” some say. Tell that to 17 year-old Adhe Noviello from Bedok Town Secondary who had to go to the Intensive Care Unit after a rugby match against Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road).
 
“They don’t play that seriously," others tell me. I reckon that judoka Chan Ka Sing, 17, from Nanyang Junior College who went to hospital after a bout with a suspected broken rib might disagree.
 
And perhaps the most damning statement I’ve heard: “It’s only school sports.”
 
I can’t even imagine saying that to St. Gabriel’s Secondary School’s Muhammad Rifqi, 14, who trains five times a week, few hours at a time; a boy who couldn’t even string coherent sentences when I spoke to him because he was bawling his eyes out. All because he had just lost a judo bout that cost his team the match.

All I could make out between his sobs were: “I’ve let my friends and school down.”
 
These students might lack the technical expertise that professional athletes have, but in everything else they own in abundance. I’ve not watched that many games in the S-League but I don't think many cry after losing a match or after getting dumped in a cup game. Instead, we hear them moan about the aggressive tackles that they faced or the perceived unfair officiating.
 
I’m not undermining the commitment and passion that professional athletes undoubtedly have. But at the same time, let’s not be condescending towards these student athletes and give them the respect that they truly deserve.

The euphoria on the face of Jeffrey Lightfoot when he scores doesn't look any different to the one that Wayne Rooney shows when he weaves his magic. So let's not put an age to a goal, a try, or a three-pointer that makes the net go swoosh.
 
For if children and youth represent what is untainted yet by the real world, then isn't school sports the perfect showcase of sports in all its unadulterated glory?