Sport has no benefit : Sociology of Sport
No response, Aug 22, 2010This semester, I have the pleasure of having one subject selection where I can take essentially any subject I want in the entirety of the university, to fulfill my non-law elective requirements. Now requiring students to take 2 non-law subjects (out of the total 32 required for a straight law program) seems rather ridiculous if you’re aiming for diversity and well roundedness but that’s not the point of this.
This semester, I have the pleasure of taking the “Sociology of Sport”. It sounds a bit wanky to a lot of people, but then again they’re probably the people that think of sport as a trivial part of society, as a game, and fail to fully recognize the wider implications and affect of sport itself within our society on both personal and communal levels.
Currently, the rituals of sport engage more people in a shared experience than any other institution or cultural activity today. (Burstyn 1999). Roughly 70 % of the worlds population (4.7 billion views) took in part of the Beijing Olympics. In Australia, more sporting heroes have been Australian of the Year than scientists, and as a society, we find greater pride in sporting achievements than any other measure of pride.
Sport brings inclusion, identification and unification. They instill values we perceive to be important to society that of competition, participation and equality. Educationally, they teach us good sportsmanship, work ethic and how to set and achieve goals.
However, this is idealistic. Vince Lombardi encouraged hatred of the opposition, high schools have removed handshake lines because of fights post games and NBA coaches have fined their players for sportsmanlike behaviour with the opposition.
In this day and age the fact that sport helps build character is generally accepted without question. However, at the start of the 19th century, it was thought that sport had “no clear social value and no sense that it contributed to the improvement of the individuals character.”
Here’s the thing though. WE can’t prove that sport has any benefit what so ever. You can imagine how well that went over when the lecturer told me that. I had that sudden sickening feeling in my stomach that I wasn’t going to like what I was hearing.
Because of the nature of society and our inability to hold all factors but the participation in sport constant, we can’t for sure determine whether the experience of sport changes people, or are people with certain qualities subconsciously drawn to play sport or chosen by specific coaches.
What has been shown though, is that sport may be terrible for kids. Academics that have reviewed the research in this area generally agree that there is no evidence to support the claim that sport builds character. A study of teenage Canadian male hockey players show that the longer they’re involved in hockey the greater they accept the importance of cheating, the more they feel violent behaviour is not only legitimate but EXPECTED by the coach the more they are likely to use illegal tactics.
You can picture me by now in this class, shrinking down in my seat and kind of wanting to run off as the lecturer systematically breaks down everything I’ve ever believed in sport. Part of me wanted to jump up and down and say NO you can’t be right! You’re wrong! It’s hard to do that though when every argument’s backed up with scientific research.
Here’s the kicker though. Despite all the information I’ve cited, sport is in itself neither inherently good nor bad. What sport is however, is what we make it. The spectrum for positive change and influence through sport is less aligned with sport itself and more aligned with those who surround sport. It is the influence of coaches, of teachers and parents that make the sporting experience what it is to kids, the most impressionable of participants.
When our lecturer said this, when she impressed on us the serious position we held (I’m the only law student in the class, and one of only a handful who isn’t studying either human movement or education) as the future coaches, teachers and administrators of sport, I felt a little bit of relief. I wasn’t off base when it came to my opinion of sport and its power, but just needed to re-align the way I conceptualized it and its relationship with its participants.
So here it is, from my view point. Sport is one of the biggest things in my life. It has been one of the biggest influences in my life as I have grown up but when I look back, reflect on everything I’ve learnt from my participation with hockey I agree with my lecturer on her assessment.
What I have learnt from sport has not come from sport itself. The physical activity of playing goal has not taught me how to set goals, but the process of learning to play goal, the practice necessitated if I wanted to improve, the sacrifices I’ve had to make for the sport itself have. It was not blocking a shot which taught me the value of hard work and dedication, but a mother who expected nothing less from me, who impressed on me the values of giving everything I had in what I chose to take on, sport being no exception.
Sasky xoxo
In my travels last year, I was fortunate enough to end up in Ottawa for Christmas / New Years and got to experience the World Juniors first hand. It may have only been Canada v Germany and a bit of a one sided game but to me it was heaven. I turned up with my sign, my Team Canada hoodie and glitter flag cheek decals and for that night, I was truly as close to being Canadian as you can get without that whole pesky citizenship thing. I helped pass the flag, got to cheer and holler and even occasionally yelled random abuse when I felt the need arose.