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Irene asked:

Why do we have quotas and affirmative action in all businesses except professional sports? Would
people watch the games if we did have this? Why isn't it required in professional sports? Why do they
get a pass?

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The short answer to your question is that it would be intolerable to the supporters of a soccer club, for
example, that their team should lose a vital game, because the manager was not allowed to select
the eleven players who, in the manager's considered judgement, were most likely to prevail against
the opposition. By contrast, there is a certain degree of latitude in recruiting filing clerks, or chefs, or
motor mechanics, or philosophy lecturers: the candidate has got to be good enoughto do the job to
the standards required. After that, other considerations may be relevant, for example, the need to
promote good race relations, or religious or sexual tolerance, or the interests of women or the
disabled.

That answer is not fully satisfactory. I don't think it is true in sport that winning is everything. There are
sound psychological reasons why those who participate in sports at the highest level should believe
that winning is everything. Self-belief, the desire to win and the belief that you can win are an
essential part of the 'inner game'. It is also fully understandable that supporters and fans should go
along with that belief. Of course, you want to see your team on the winners' podium.

However, it is also widely accepted that the desire to win can be taken too far. The sportsman or
sportswoman enjoys a life outside of sport, a life where personal relationships are important. This is
just one example of how we balance competing values. The optimal amount of practice and working
out for peak performance on the playing field may not be optimal if it destroys your marriage.

If we look at the wider social context, then it is reasonable to say that although we want the quality of
competition to be the very best that it can be, there are other things we value too. Groups who in the
past have for political or social reasons had a hard time making progress in a particular sport deserve
a fair chance. No-one would suppose that the inequality could be rectified simply by forcing clubs to
recruit team members from those groups. The process has to start with the youngsters who are first
attracted to the sport, by providing new opportunities for training and coaching.

Here is one notable example. In 1999, the South African rugby team, the Springboks, competed for
the World Cup with a multiracial starting squad for the first time in their history. Coach Nick Mallett
was quoted as saying, "There is stunning talent among our players of color. They're the future of
South African rugby." Don't be fooled into thinking that this was just a happy chance. It was a result of
a concerted political campaign to open up South African rugby to non-whites.

Geoffrey Klempner