It’s difficult to flip television channels these days without coming across sports – either live contests, rebroadcasts, talk shows or a heavy flow of highlights. Famous athletes and former athletes are pitch-men in commercials for countless products. The money in sports is copious. All signs would seem to point to an increase in Americans’ fascination with sports.

At least that’s true from the perspective of the spectator.

However as reported in Minot Daily News’ Sept. 28-29 edition, high school sports is struggling with fewer athletes interested in playing. In many parts of the country, including here in North Dakota, teams are being dismantled because of lack of participation, programs are being eliminated and plenty of others are struggling to remain viable.

The number of participants in high school sports nationwide for 2018-19 is down more than 43,000 athletes from the previous year. Football participation alone dropped by 30,000 players in that time frame, the fifth consecutive year of decline.

There are any number of reasons for the reduction in high school sports participation. With all of the controversy over concussions it is no surprise that football is experiencing the greatest slump with some parents simply not willing to put their child at risk. There are demographic reasons as well. As many small towns grow smaller, there are simply too few potential participants.

Of course, there may be an intangible at play here. Technology – the internet and social media in particular – have increasingly prompted young people to live in a cocoon. Numerous studies have come to the conclusion that over-utilizing technology leads to isolation and other problems with teens and young adults. The same technology is also an alternative to playing sports. In fact, some schools have already introduced e-sports, competitive electronic gaming, and sought to sanction such programs.

Can e-sports offer the same benefits of athletics – developing self-confidence, and learning teamwork chief among them? What about the physical fitness aspect?

Only in time can these questions be answered, because e-sports programs are the wave of the future.

Hopefully that doesn’t mean that athletics are becoming a thing of the past. That would be a shame.