Not everything an athlete learns from sport is garnered from the playing field, much the way not every lesson in school is taught inside a traditional classroom. Both points were exhibited in a recent field trip by 62 Saline High School sociology students to the University of Michigan, where they sat in on a lecture by Kevin L. King on race and sports in society.

Topics discussed weren’t easy ones. A controversial statement made by the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman in 2008 about how player’s who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should “lynch him in a back alley,” along with an ensuing inflammatory cover of Golfweek were catalysts for discussion about diversity in the workplace, as well as a racially insensitive comment recently made by ESPN college football analyst Bob Griese.

“It’s great any time you can have discussions about diversity with high school students because not many of them have much experience with it,” said King. “This is a safe environment. A safe place to come in and talk about some tough issues.”

The Saline students, all juniors and seniors, didn’t passively soak in the lecture. Along with their college counterparts, they participated in the discussion, and offered their own opinions.

“I was proud of the way my kids responded,” said course instructor Brian Lampman. Lampman, who is also the varsity soccer coach at Saline and a co-editor and contributor to the book Learning Culture Through Sports: Exploring the Role of Sports in Society, began teaching the sociology course at the high school level for the first time this year, with a large portion of the course dedicated to sports sociology.

“I was glad to see them dive in right away and pick up on these topics,” he said. “I always say sports can be a tool to learn life’s lessons, and it was on display today how it can be a great vehicle to discuss some tough issues in our society.”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@annarbor.com, or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.