Ben Torah is basically right. It is good to play sports and there is no reason why shomer Shabat teams and players should not be covered in Jewish newspapers. For example, there is a shomer Shabat Little League in my neighborhood, many Orthodox high schools play other Orthodox high schools in sports, and Yeshiva University even has some teams that play in NCAA Division III which is the “play for fun” division. But the near-worship of professional athletes in secular society at best reflects misplaced values and may even reward bad conduct.
Speaking of competition, there is a popular television series in many locales called “It’s Academic” in which high school kids compete to see which school’s best students can best answer questions about science, history, math, literature, and so on. Why not an “It’s Torah” competition in which students are quizzed on their knowledge of Tanakh, Mishnah, Gemara, and Machsheva? Because girls’s schools have such a different curriculum, we could have separate competitions for the girls. Sports are good, but Torah is even better!