The author tries to equate all "sporting" activities,there are different types of sport, sport as entertainment, participatory sport which confers health benefits and the ludicrous production, at taxpayers' expense of elite athletes. Those individuals who believe that national prestige is enhanced when an Australian athlete is better a some meaningless activity than foreigners are deluded, that's the East German mentality. Each Olympic medal costs the poor oppressed taxpayers millions.Why should taxpayers fund sport as entertainment, let the audience pay. It's the old formula of "Bread and Circuses", I'd prefer more bread in the form of funding for education, health and science.

I agree with Bennie's thread that Aussies are spectators rather than participators.
It has been so for millenia; Rome appreciated the controlling influence of bread and circuses.

I think a HECS-style scheme should be introduced for those who attend our taxpayer-funded Sports Academies.

Why shouldn't those who go on to make lots of sponsorship dollars repay their debt?

It's good enough for those who actually make a physical difference to society, so why not for those who simply provide entertainment?

I am a sport hating atheist yet my taxes help support sport and
religion.

NOT HAPPY KEV.

Rache, I agree that those who are trained at an academy, or through specialise fuding by the taxpayer could indeed have a HECS system. It would make a lot of sense.

But I think you shouldn't overlook the importance of entertainment. It provides much-needed relief from everyday life, which in many cases is essential for people to retain some sort of enjoyment. Without it, there would be a lot more problems as more people searched for ways to expend their pent-up energies.