The Business of School Sport: Are Children Paying the Price?

Today, those school sports have morphed into a professionalized, multi-million-rand broadcasting juggernaut, and it's raising a heavy question.

When the cameras turn on, who's really profiting off the teenagers on the pitch? Hi, I'm Tukutso Pungweni, and I'm a journalist at Daily Maverick.

Last month, Hilton College headmaster George Harris warned in a letter that cameras and rankings are turning school games into stages, and we're losing the real point of the play.

Theo Garan, a writer who covers school sports, told me that while the kids aren't pros, the system around them is.

Coaches are paid a lot of money to win, and that pressure filters straight down to the players.

Broadcasting has poured petrol on the fire.

By the end of March, the Super Sports Schools app hit 1.4 million users and 19 million views.

Mo Barenzer, head of rugby at Western Province Preparatory School, told me that this spotlight puts a massive psychological load on these teenagers.

Even well-meaning pride from parents and alumni gets amplified until it feels like suffocating expectation.

Tim Jarvis, a counselor, said that with outside industries already profiting from school sports, schools are now trying to get their own piece of the pie.