Race And Youth Sports

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Sports as defined by Britanica are organized physical contests played for their own sake (Thompson, 2019). Historically, sports have been characterized by a motivation from the athlete to assert or demonstrate dominance over an opponent. In recent times, especially due to massive developments in technology after the seventeenth century, human survival has been less reliant upon human athleticism or ability but rather reliant upon the ingenuity of the human race (Thompson, 2019). Sports are still quite prevalent in modern day society, which proves that sports serve a greater purpose than just survival. In his article in The Athletic, lead columnist Marcus Thompson II argues that the human race keeps sports relevant because “they are displays …show more content…

Knowing that sports are incredibly important to society, many researchers explore the impacts of playing sports, competitively or recreationally, upon the people who play them. In their peer reviewed paper, Newman et al. acknowledge that in modern times, playing sports is not just a potential job, or even just a way to stay healthy. They argue that sports play a huge role in the formation of identity, specifically among urban youth (Newman et al., 2021). Knowing that sports play such a huge role in the formation of identity, how does the state of youth sports affect the urban communities of the United States? The state of youth sports in the US negatively impacts the mental and physical well-being of urban populations while also hindering the character development of these communities. In order to fully understand the issue at hand, one must understand the state of youth sports in the United States. In their peer reviewed study, prolific researchers Post et al. explore youth sports in the U.S. from an economic …show more content…

Through interviewing 22 low SES youth soccer players, they found that soccer had a big impact on the way they saw themselves and the way other people viewed them. One of the youths they interviewed identified as someone with discipline. He highlights that discipline is important to keep him from committing crimes that he sees everyday in his neighborhood. Many other youths agreed, they correlate their good behavior with their sport. They identify that soccer has become one of the most important things in their life alongside friends and family (Erez & Shoshana, 2023). Erez and Shoshana assert that soccer provides important role models such as coaches and teammates that help support low SES players form a positive identity (Erez & Shoshana, 2023). In their peer-reviewed paper, O’Rourke et al. explore the influence of soccer on the lives of formerly homeless residents in Vancouver. Similarly to Erez and Shoshana, O’Rourke et al. agree that soccer can be a big factor in the well-being of low SES youth and adults, but they point out that the issue is not that

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