Sports-how do sports help the urban core? “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair. Sport speaks to people in a language they can understand.” Nelson Mandela. Sport contributes to community identity, serving as a focal point for engagement, pride, and achievement. The diversity of sports and sporting activities (including social sport and physical recreation) makes it an ideal medium to reach men and women from every age-group, culture, and socio-economic background. The broader benefits of sports go beyond the personal benefits derived from participation. Sport is a popular focal point …show more content…
People often fail to see the life-changing role sports can play for at-risk youth in low-income urban neighborhoods and the need for more sports-based youth programs to reduce crime and increase high school graduation rates in our cities. An article written about a year ago about “Royals, local government team up to open a youth urban baseball academy at 18th and vine,” The Kansas City Mayor calls it a dream and others called it a fairytale. Projects like this don’t come very often, or at least not nearly as often as we’d all like. They are calling it the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy. The possibilities are incredible. On the surface, they will be teaching baseball to kids from 6 to 18 years old, but really, they want to be doing much more than that. The only way communities can progress and build infrastructures like this one in areas that are termed as gang infested areas like this one is by spreading the message of love in community related events such as …show more content…
At various points in his life they had to move to different neighborhoods. Wes’s mother just wanted what was good for her kids a safe place for them to grow up. He characterized the Bronx as being in its “post-apocalyptic phase”(43). It was under the constant threat of violence and drugs, but Wes was able to find solace in the neighborhood basketball court. He explains that “the basketball court was a strange patch of neutral ground, a meeting place for every element of a neighborhood’s cohort of young men” (45). It was “as if that fence had created a circle of trust. A brotherhood”
The setting of Wes Moore’s, Discovering Wes Moore has an incredible impact on him and helps him make some of the biggest choices of his life. Wes grows in the Bronx during his early childhood years. He lives in a dangerous neighborhood in which drugs are in use. He makes friends in the neighborhood. However, his mother wants him to get a proper education, so she sends him to Riverdale. Wes makes friends at this school and keeps the ones in the neighborhood. Wes is feeling torn apart while living in the Bronx. He feels that “[He] was too ‘rich’ for the kids from [his] neighborhood and too ‘poor’ for the kids at his school.” (Moore 43). Wes does not feel like he belongs anywhere, which leads to reckless behavior.
Coakley, J. J. (2007). Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
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.
You see sports everywhere, on your TV and even your local park. The value of sports in the average American is astronomical, sports is a major priority in people’s life. Sports teaches young kids how to be successful (and not successful) at life. There is so much that goes into sports that people who never have played will never understand. With each sport there is specific skill that one must master to be good, and with that takes hours and hours of hard work. You can talk about a certain individual’s skill and capabilities that make him great, but the real value of sports lies within a person. Sports creates determination and a competiveness that can be used in other areas of life, not just sports. There are millions of kids who attempt to become professional athletes but as the level of competition increases the number of athletes decreases, very few of them ever becoming a professional athlete but they are able to take what they have learned from sports into different professions in life. When a kid spends hours in the backyard perfecting his swing it can translate to the kid spending hours of hard work in his job. Companies and business like to hire ex-athletes because they already know what kind of person they are, hardworking and
Participation in sports has proven to increase self-discipline and self-esteem, and can teach athletes to learn from their mistakes and move on (Issitt). Athletes playing team sports also develop the ability to work well with others and use teamwork in their everyday lives. Teammates form relationships that are strengthened over a common passion and goal. These relationships can last long after high school is over (Chen). These social skills translate into better communication used with an athlete’s family, peers, and in the community. Likewise, “A 2006 study in Maryland found that student athletes are 15 percent more likely than non athletes to be involved in their communities and to take the time for civic engagements, including participating in voting and volunteer activities” (Issitt). The same study also concluded that athletes are far more likely to be comfortable with public speaking than non-athletes. This study provides concrete evidence that high school sports can help to gain mental and social skills that will be used later in life
Jarvie, G. (2012). Sport, Social Division and Social Inequality. Sport Science Review. 20 (1-2), 95–109.
Sport is a most powerful tool in swaying a country to believe in its people and unify its nation. This way sport certainly has the potential to improve women’s recognition as equals in the world however I believe it is currently not doing that. We cannot let something that has the potential to be so beneficial to our lives become dangerously, morally blinding. William Arthur Ward said: “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records”, with this in mind, the hope is to keep women motivated so they continue to triumph, surprising the world until eventually, men realise that we are as capable as they are and deserve the same benefits of the sporting industry as they do.
delinquent behavior. These kinds of behaviors are not kinds that are ideal for a youth to
The Department of Health (2004) state in a recent report that Sport and physical activity can help decrease the likelihood of developing diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke and type II diabetes by up to 50%, furthermore the report states that physical activity can reduce the risk of suffering a premature death by approximately 20-30%. These staggering statistics demonstrate the powerful impact physical activity can have in regards to combating health risks in the UK. The benefits to health that derive from adherence in physical activity and sport are overwhelming, however, health is not the only benefit to be obtained from an active society. Sullivan, C. (1998. cited in Collins and Kay, 2003) found that sport can help to encourage the growth of community, family and personal cohesion as well as help reduce intensity of youth delinquency. From the observations made in this paragraph it is feasible to suggest that having an active nation will result in a wide spectrum of benefits.
At some point students has had trouble either at home or at school and need to release stress or tension. Some of these times the teens choose to do activities that are wrong. Youth want to feel comfort and accepted, therefore they sometimes will do events that are not well for their body just to fit in with a group. There is evidence that proves sports can reduce the likeliness of teens committing crimes, or getting into trouble. Tees look at the negative substances such as drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, and think that they can do whatever they want. Many teens look at these activities and think they are “exciting” or “cool” and want to try them, but if they are busy with sports they most likely will not be as easily influenced. Participation in sports helps keep teens out of trouble by taking up their free time which could be used for mischief, gives them an opportunity to meet new friends for positive role models, provides teens an outlet to develop a higher self-esteem, and also enables student to set goals for on and off the field.
“Sports are for fun, but they also offer benefits and lessons that carry over into all aspects of life”. This well-known anonymous quotation conveys the message that sport is the game which has some rules and customs. It is not only for fun and entertainment, but there are also some benefits of playing sports which give some important lessons for life. Every kind of physical sport is healthy because it involves running, jumping, stretching, mind skills and much more. There are so many sports available in the world nowadays, but we can categorize them by the numbers of players, the three main categories are individual sport, dual sport and team sport.
The main goals behind Sport Education are to help students become knowledgeable about different sports and activities to the point where they can participate in these outside of the classroom to stay active. Also it teaches execution and strategies and encourages competitiveness. It is important for kids to be competitive because they will have to be in life and it will teach the importance of winning and losing the right way. “Sports offer kids a great chance to work cooperatively toward a common goal. And working coope...
According to the recently deceased Nelson Mandela, “Sports have the power to change the world." What makes sports so powerful? If you have ever participated in a sport or watched some type of event you have experienced it. This greatness does not occur during the game; but rather, this powerful encounter takes place after the game. For example, boxers beat each other into a pulp for twelve rounds, but after the match they hug and congratulate one another. Football and hockey players shake hands after the game even though they deliver life threatening and dangerous hits. It seems like all competitors, no matter the event, behave in this particular manner. It is all part of sportsmanship, a tradition that illustrates the beauty of sports. Defined by Dictionary.com, sportsmanship is “sportsmanlike conduct, as fairness, courtesy or being a cheerful loser.” This basically means that sportsmanship is defined as the ethical and moral dimension of sports. It is a choice by each individual to display ethical behavior with fairness, respect, and integrity for the game they play.
In conclusion, it is explicit that sports is a positive influence on athletes, spectators and the world as a whole as it teaches imperative life lessons as well as allows its participants to experience enjoyment, fulfilment and gratification. As mentioned previously sports enables its players to bring out the best in others and create unity amongst groups as team work is so essential. This highlights the views I have in conjunction with the views of Joe Humphrey.