i dont want to start a fight, but why does he have any less chance of bringing a easy sport 40 trainer home than a high wing type trainer?
the possibility of getting into trouble is there with both planes, in fact a high wing trainer will be blown off course on landing easier thanks to that high wing now pointing the wrong way and respond slower, therefore having a greater chance of the instructor unable to correct, on low rates theres no reason why a easy sport design should be any harder to fly than a trainer. personaly i find the trainers slow responce a drawback. but thats me.
just a point to consider and theres no rule in stone that you must start on a trainer.

that thing about making the sport plane ugly after a few rough landings.. ummmmm i've seen pretty trainers turn bad, i've seen pretty sport planes turn bad too. the ground dosnt care.
apart from the UC which needs bending back every few hard landings ( soft wire ) and the tail wheel which came off i'd like you to find a single scratch on my students plane, its taken a few wing tip last min opps wrong way tumbles, and its not even broke the prop, weird too, coz the tail in standard form is in a vunurable place on the bottom of the fuz, others build them with it on top.

i think the best idea here so far was to goto the field and try a few types, see which feels ok to you regardless of design.

i agree tho, trainers can be fun