With each passing civilization and the era it’s [its] people lived in, one can find a great deal about the times by examining an area that is not often thought of. That area is in regards to sports. The ancient Mayans had arenas, the Greeks helped initiate the Olympics, and the Romans had bloody matches between gladiators in the Colosseum. These sports and games often reveal to us what was occurring outside the playing field and arenas, into the political arenas and clashes between the classes. Examining the history of rugby throughout Europe, particularly in Great Britain, allows one the opportunity to see how the changes throughout society’s values, norms, and principles are mirrored by the evolution of the game of rugby from the mid-nineteenth century up to World War I.
Variations of games similar to rugby can be found throughout history, even dating back to the twelfth century. There was even an attempt to ban these types of games. In some cases, like in England, King Edward II issued an edict that formally banned the games. This would only prove to be temporary. Until 1845, rules were often agreed upon before the contest began and could change slightly with each contest. It was not until the year 1845 that rules were officially established that distinguished the game from other forms at Rugby School by three young men. Rugby derives its name from this since three boys attending this institution first established rule defining the sport. William Webb-Ellis is also attributed to helping evolve the game to present day form. It is rumored that during a match in 1823, he picked up the ball and began to run with it. His alleged disregard for the rules helped in fact to define what would be a future rule of the sport.
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3. Collins, Tony. “Myth and Reality in the 1895 Rugby Split,” The Sports Historian, No. 16 (1996): 19-27.
4. Dine, Phillip. “Money, Identity, and Conflict: Rugby League in France,” The Sports Historian, No. 16 (1996): 90-108.
5. Handler, Timothy. “The Structuring of Manliness and the Development of Rugby Football at the Public Schools of Oxbridge: 1830-1880,” in Making Men: Rugby and Masculine Identity, ed. John Nauright and Timothy John Lindsay Chandler (Psychology Press, 1996), 13-21.
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The presence of activity and sport is found within cultures and societies all over the world, and throughout history. Activity in the form of sport can often be the purest form of expression for a society or individual. The sporting world is often thought to be a microcosm of the actual world with the problems and issues of society still being ever present in the sporting community. Since sport can be used as an expression of self, it is no wonder that sport is often a reflection of the society that it occupies. One such society that was deeply impacted by the role of sport is that of Native American boarding school students in the 1800’s and 1900’s. These students lived tough lives but just like how it had helped other cultural societies, sport was able to provide these students with basic needs of autonomy and pride.
Newman, Joshua I. 2007. Army of Whiteness? Colonel Reb and the Sporting South's Cultural and Corporate Symbolic. Journal of Sport & Social Issues 31 (4): 315-39.
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...t and leisure, to creating equality amongst everyone. The history of sports has been marked by division and discrimination but also has affected modern popular culture and changing social attitudes and standards towards gender equality, social-class and race. During the Gilded Age and after, sports finally broke the barrier between gender, social-class, and equality. It allowed blacks to be able to play sports with whites, women to play sports with men, and it allowed the poor to play sports with the middle-class and wealthy. Not only did sports in the Gilded Age allow barriers to be broken, but it also allowed sports to be shared amongst different races, women, and social-classes. Different sports such as prizefighting, boxing, and swimming were introduced by the minorities in society, and have now become some of the most popular sports today.
Coakley, J. J. (2007). Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
1. It has become much harder to identify the true and amateur-taught values around sport in our culture. The passion for competition, the aspect of a team, and the actions of sportsmanship are deep values that sports act to instill. It becomes one of the most important ways to teach those values to our young and unfortunately is becoming easy to forget. Throughout the semester we scrutinized sports, looking at their influence, role, and meaning in our American society today. Two foundations to view sport, critical and functionalist theory, were brought upon early in the semester, laying groundwork for looking at the rest of the topics. To better understand these two view points a working definition of each is needed. The three C’s of: capitalism, coercion and commercialism help describe the critical/conflict theory and view of sport in our United States. When looking with this viewpoint some of sport’s purposes in society include, promoting and expanding capitalistic drives as well as showing the power and privilege of elite groups within society. (Coakley, 2001) On the contrary the ...
Jarvie, G. (2012). Sport, Social Division and Social Inequality. Sport Science Review. 20 (1-2), 95–109.
Research guided by conflict theory generally falls into the following categories: 1) studies of how athletes become alienated from their own bodies; 2) studies of how sports can be used to coerce and control people; 3) studies of sports and the development of commercialism in society; 4) studies of sports and various forms of nationalism and militarism; and 5) studies of sports and racism and sexism. (Coakley, 1998) In the book, Meggyesy provided examples of each of these categories which occurred during his footba...
“First appearing in England in the 14th century, King Edward lll issued a decree outlawing the practice of field hockey”(Wpadminskhdev). King Edward lll referred to the sport as an idle game and banned it from being played. He issued in the proclamation “Moreover we ordain that you prohibit under penalty of imprisonment all and sundry from such stone, wood and iron throwing; handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock- fighting, or other such idle games”(Editors). Although King Edward lll did not encourage field hockey, the game made it all the way to our generation today. “Field hockey developed in the British Isles in the late 19th century by public schools along with the help of Middlesex cricket clubs in London”(Wpadminskhdev ). The origins of field hockey can be discovered in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Persia. “In England, professional men teams were formed, but later after, several women’s colleges formed the first Women’s field hockey team in the United States”(Mifflin).
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.