The downside of a HEC's type re-payment scheme is that it may disadvantage those athletes who are at an elite level in non-commercial, non-professional sports. The superstar junior soccer player or NRL player may remain blissfully unaffected due to commercial interests.
You beat me to it Princess.
The non-commercial sports that often feature in the Olympic games where we measure success so closely will suffer if a system such as this is introduced.
Those sports are already experiencing significant problems gaining and retaining the best athletes as the heavily commercialised sports in Australia continue to grow so strongly.
I have no doubt that our decreased Olympic performances of late are a direct result of the AFL particularly shifting focus in recruiting to the best athletes, not footballers. They can offer a possibility 10-15 years of employment at a very high wage - you cannot blame young people for choosing these professional elite sports over national competition where income is not guaranteed.
Introducing a HECS-style system will only increase this imbalance. Then you get in to the situation of having to cost each students 'education' - programs such as some of the young football teams in the AIS are run in association with FFA and cost large amounts because of the significant international travel, do we charge them more? Or less? What about their worth to the nation's sporting progression and success?