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6 June 2026Student-Athlete School. The Tara Dragaš Case and What We Too Often Forget About the True Function of School
Editorial by Fabio Zarra — sports psychologist, Sport Psychology Center
A piece of news has sparked debate these days and, I admit, struck a chord with me for years. Tara Dragaš, a nineteen-year-old gymnast with the Fiamme Oro and ASU Udine, was representing Italy at the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Varna—seventh place in the all-around, fourth in the ball, just shy of the continental podium—when she discovered she had been denied admission to the final exams. According to her own testimony, a four in sports disciplines also played a role in her decision.
Let's pause for a moment on this short circuit: the very subject that should be valued more than any other by those who dedicate their lives to sport becomes one of the reasons why an Italian athlete isn't admitted to the exam. It's the kind of paradox that should make us question not just the individual report card, but how we think about school.
I want to be clear from the outset: I'm not writing to criticize a school or its teachers. I don't know all the documents, and an evaluation always involves a class council, criteria, and a story that isn't fully understood from the outside. This incident, however, is an opportunity for broader reflection, one that concerns us all.
Where am I speaking from
I've been a sports psychologist for over ten years. But the perspective closest to my heart here is another: for years, I was the guesthouse manager for the youth sector of a Serie A club. I lived side by side, every day, with fourteen-, fifteen-, and sixteen-year-olds far from home, caught between training and homework, between dreams and tomorrow's test. I closely followed the dialogue—often fruitful, sometimes extremely difficult—between student-athletes and the school.
I was also fortunate enough to participate, along with other officials, in drafting the Student-Athlete Project with the Secretary of Education, and a personalized training plan specifically for student-athletes in schools. Therefore, I know two things from firsthand experience: that these kids carry an enormous burden, and that schools can support them without sacrificing any of their rigor.
What is school for?
We often forget what the school's purpose is. Of course, it is to educate on a didactic and academic level: to impart knowledge, method, and critical thinking. That is its backbone and should not be weakened. But school is also, and above all, the place where a person grows. Where an adolescent is guided toward adulthood, prepared to face the world and life.
Here's the point I'd like to emphasize: sport also serves precisely this function, and anticipates it. A young competitive athlete, already at fifteen or sixteen, experiences firsthand what most peers will encounter only many years later. They live with expectations and demands. They are subjected to constant judgment—a grade, a stopwatch, a ranking, every week. They confront a world of adults daily who demand attention, discipline, and effective responses. They are already, in effect, immersed in a work environment filled with pressure, deadlines, and responsibility.
These guys don't ask for discounts. They demand to be seen in their entirety.
The greatest paradox
And here lies the aspect I find most jarring. It's not that the recognition of student-athletes is a dream yet to be realized: the State already provides for it. The Ministry's experimental "High-Level Student-Athlete" project—initiated with Ministerial Decree 279/2018 and continued with Ministerial Decree 43/2023, in collaboration with the Department of Sport, CONI, CIP, and Sport and Health—establishes in black and white the right to education and the educational success of those who practice high-level sports. The tool exists and has a name: the Personalized Training Project, complete with a school tutor and sports tutor. And on top of all this, there are now also the National Guidelines on dual careers, aligned with European ones.
The tools, in short, are there. What's sometimes lacking isn't the norm: it's the culture to apply it. When—according to the family's reports—those who ask about reconciling exam dates with a national team fixture are met with the response, "Why don't you move the European Championship?", the problem isn't bureaucratic. It's a mentality. It's the idea that sport is a whim to be squeezed into spare time, rather than a legitimate, formative part of a child's development.
I don't ask for discounts, I ask for fairness
Let's be clear, because it's easy to misunderstand. I'm not saying an athlete should be given a diploma. I'm not asking for the academic bar to be lowered, nor for anyone to be promoted "because they're a champion." That would be a useless favor, and the athletes themselves don't want it: they're used to earning everything. What I'm asking for is fairness—which is different from formal equality. Fairness means recognizing everyone's starting point and empowering everyone to give their best. It means that the school, in its educational role, recognizes the wealth of experience, sacrifice, and maturity a young athlete brings, and integrates it rather than ignoring it. A four in Sports Disciplines for someone wearing the blue jersey isn't harshness: it's a sign that, somewhere, the dialogue between the institution and the young woman has broken down.
The ultimate goal
There's a phrase that accompanies me throughout my work with young people: the ultimate goal of school isn't to separate those who succeed from those who don't. It's to help the individual grow.
Failing a year, in itself, isn't a tragedy, nor is it necessarily an injustice: sometimes it's the right thing to do. But it becomes a problem when it comes like a door closing rather than a helping hand; when it tells a student "you're not good enough" just as that student is giving Italy one of its best weeks. Tara, it must be said, reacted like a champion: she's already declared that next year she'll finish fifth grade, take her final exams, and start university. Good. But we shouldn't need nineteen-year-olds to teach us adults how to get back on our feet.
School should be the place where a young person learns to live in the world, not where they experience defeat for the first time, administered by those who should be responsible for their growth. Supporting and demanding are not contradictory: they are the same thing, done well.
Because an educational institution is measured not by how many it can stop, but by how many it can accompany.
This is an editorial and reflects the author's personal opinion, developed over ten years of working with athletes and youth sectors. The facts cited are drawn from news sources and the athlete's public statements.
Sport Psychology Center : www.sportpsychologycenter.com
