I'm not sure sports are more of a time sink than a lot of kids would otherwise spend doing something mindless like watching TV or gaming. It's a couple of hours a day after school for practice and half a day on the weekend for a game (yes I have three kids in sports).

There are kids (and parents) who get totally invested in a sport with often unrealistic expectations of college scholarships or professional careers, but there are a lot who are also remain very academically focused and balanced. I know that many of the kids on my oldest son's high school teams went on to college in STEM fields so it's not an either/or.