How is sports not learning? There is more to life than a text book and associated knowledge. WAY more.
My family, brothers, sisters, cousins, neices, nephews, dad, grandpa, sons, daughters... ALL OF US have always been very active in sports. It has done nothing but make us closer. Going to eachother's events. Cheering eachother on. Helping eachother up when we fail.... it has made us WAY closer.
Friends? Man... I don't think you can make better friends than ones than you work your ass off with towards a common goal.
Places importance on it? If there's no importance why do it? Not relate to life. Sports teaches you to win and lose with your head up... but not too high up. There's barely any better lesson in life to learn!
I, and truckloads of psychologists, would largely disagree with you. Many would agree with you too however, since much of it is based on warrant rather than neutral data. In order to reach a mutual understanding we would have to establish a perceived outcome goal. If our goals were incompatible, then obviously our views of the methods to that goal would have to differ as well.
There is more to life than textbooks, true. But there is NOTHING on the field that can't be learned somewhere else. I would also go further to state that many of the things learned on the field are destructive - both individually and in broader society. In other words, you can get the positives someplace else, without the associated negatives, thereby making them preferable instruments of instruction.
Much of my family was active in sports, and didn't get close at all. My friends and close family are totally uninterested in sports, yet are perfectly close. In other words, nothing sports does is exclusive to sports. And also again, it establishes negative paradigms. If your family is actively rooting for you, then they're rooting against the other team...this establishes the idea that everything is 'us versus them'. Moreover, what about the player who has no family to cheer him on? Does it not ostracize him further, reinforcing the isolation he likely already feels? I could go on for hundreds of pages, but you probably see where I'm going already.
Working towards a common goal can build comradarie, but so can many other things. More importantly, once you realize that all the hard work you put in was meaningless, or damaging, you've actually caused more harm. Not only do you feel the guilt for yourself, but you've actively wasted the time and energy of others. Not to mention most people will never reach the goal they strive for, whatever it is. There can only be one state champion each year, but there are dozens or hundreds of teams. One winner, all the rest losers. That's the worst possible lesson that can be focused on. It's the failing of the competitive model.
You place importance on the benefits, not the activity itself. You don't go to school because SCHOOL is important, you go to school because LEARNING is important, and school is just one place you can get that. Likewise, sports don't matter AT ALL, but fitness is good. Sports is nothing but one possible vessel for fitness. If the coach focuses on the benefits, and NOT the process, that's fine. But it's VERY rare to find one that does. They all think there's some kind of religion surrounding the sport, or sports in general. They promote the sport for the sports sake.
Also by focusing on winning or losing it's already a negative tool (depending on your warrant at least). Having your head up win or lose is a false dichotomy. Hold your head up by refusing to compete...now THERE's a valuable lesson.
As you can likely see by now we're essentially polar opposites in outlook. That makes even understanding each other very difficult, never mind reaching compromise. I would be fine to just go our separate ways, except the reality is that we'll both campaign for a society that impacts the other...me by marginalizing sports, you by emphasizing them. Just like the friction between religion or secular government, the truth is the two sides can never live harmoniously.
