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Sport can be perceived as a microcosm of our society. These two aspects are
intertwined in more ways than most people think. We often find that sport has a
profound influence on the development of the youth. It changes their perception, problem
solving, attitudes, and many more characteristics. The main stereotype of sport is that its
the absolute perfect mechanism to build your childs character. While it is true that sport
can have a positive influence on younger athletes in terms of socialization, the same can
also be said for sport having a negative effect. The effect sport has on athletes depends
on that athletes own experience. If a child was placed on a team with a good coach
and good team members then its likely that childs social development will be
improved, and the opposite correlation will most likely happen if the coach is less than
decent and the teammates are uncooperative. The main question we want to know is that
if sport is becoming more positive or negative in an athletes social development? To
answer that, both arguments and facts from the two sides will be addressed. This
analysis is important if sport sociologists and sport organizers have any hope of
improving the sport experience of young athletes.
As previously stated, sport can have a positive influence on social development.
One major skill young athletes can learn from sport is teamwork. This can apply to
work, school projects, or any general scenario with a group of people. It is a crucial
part of our society because if we cant work together, then we wouldnt be able to form
businesses, or even a system of government. Any team-based sport can teach this skill.
Athletes learn how to work together and form a decent game plan in order to win. This
could involve deciding who is best for a certain position or what to do in a certain
situation. This is much like a group project in school where instead of deciding field
positions, they would decide responsibilities such as the group speaker, information
gatherer, organizer, ect. Sport can also help us make more friends. There are numerous
occasions where athletes make friends on the field. The combined goal of winning can
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force people to interact through teamwork as stated above. Through that constant
interaction, athletes become use to socializing with each other and as a result, friendships
may form. Sport also involves physical activity, and because of this, its an excellent
way of keeping kids healthy and active. When I was in martial arts as a young
individual, we were constantly moving and performing acrobatics. The results of my
training was excellent flexibility and longer-lasting stamina. As for track in my high
school years, my cardio was at its prime and my fat levels were extremely low. One of
the biggest positives in sport is that it teaches athletes to work hard in order to achieve
their goals. Ill never forget this one instance in track when I was lagging behind a few
people during the 1600 event. I wanted to be ahead of them so badly and beat my
previous record, so I pushed myself to the edge of my limits and exhausted every last
bit of energy I had in those final 100 meters and eventually passed up two other
athletes in the process. The act had caused me a great deal of exhaustion and pain, but
I did meet my goal that day and it felt very uplifting, especially when I received
praise from my coach, parents, and fellow athletes.
Although sport has its obvious benefits on young athletes, not everyone receives
the same experience, and it can have a negative effect on an athletes social
development. There seems to be a current trend developing that makes organized sports
overly competitive. Too many coaches today focus on winning rather than development.
What does this teach young athletes? It teaches them to sacrifice their own health for
the sake of victory and can eventually evolve into PED abuse if the athlete is given the
pressure. This increases the likelihood of injury, which is another issue on its own.
Injuries can greatly hamper performance or the ability to play for an entire season. If
the injuries are too common and/or too sever, the athlete could potentially drop out of
the sport for life just to stay safe. Football is notorious for injuries such as concussions,
which cause brain damage. Sport can also add to stress, especially for athletes attending
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school. There is one major factor that greatly contributes to their stress: grades. Every
students goal should be to have high grades, but this can be a daunting task to an
athlete that has school and their sport to worry about. Imagine coming home all smelly
and exhausted from practice. The first thing people would want to do is relax in order
to recover, but if you have a stack of homework to do, resting will have to wait. There
is one particular event like this that occurred in my life that will be forever etched in
my memory. I was struggling with PreAp chemistry during my high school sophomore
year, and I was even attending tutorials after class in order for me to understand the
subject. Unfortunately, my track coach cared nothing for your effort in school, only the
numbers on your progress report. The result was one hundred yards of lunges for every
point of failure. The word pain could not describe how my legs were feeling after that
day, and it made me frustrated that I was indeed putting a great deal of effort in that
class and still getting punished regardless. There is another huge aspect that is having a
negative effect on athletes. We all like to have fun. Yes, I know, heaven forbid
anyones sport experience ever be fun. If the sport is dull and too tasking for an athlete,
then they may give up in an early part of their lives. I played all kinds of sports during
my youth, but I NEVER considered track to be fun. It enhanced my cardio, speed, and
endurance to such a great degree, but running around in circles all day for long periods
of time had no entertainment to me whatsoever. The real reason I joined was because
my dad had pressured me into doing so, which brings us to our last aspect of
discussion. Even though sport offers a chance for athletes to receive praise from their
parents, they can also receive pressure from them as well. This can range from talking
their kids into joining a sport they have no interest in or to be constantly critiqued after
a game.
There are many factors that contribute to a young athletes experience in sports.
Despite many of the negative aspects, I still believe that theyre outweighed by the
positives. Without sports, obesity rates all across the globe would drastically rise, there
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would be less chances for scholarships, and many children would lack proper social
development. Sports for the youth may not be perfect, but its still an important activity
in our society.
Sport and Social Development
By Jacob Rawley
2/5/2016
T-Th 12:30