Watch – The business of school sport: Are children paying the price?

Daily Maverick | 07.06.2026 17:06
From R9,500 commercialisation conferences to millions of livestream views, school sport is increasingly being drawn into a professionalised, high-pressure economy. Coaches, psychologists and parents say its educational and developmental purpose is being displaced by performance and profit, while legal experts warn that children risk being reduced to unpaid entertainers in a rapidly expanding youth sports industry. Daily Maverick’s Takudzwa Pongweni reports.