Sports And Sports : The Importance Of Relationships In Sports

3 Strikes, The Bond Is Out: The Effect Of Sports On Relationships in A Separate Peace

Sport’s are an aspect of life that affect societies across the globe. Athletics affect everyone's life, whether that be playing the sport, watching games, or hearing about a sporting event. There is a big difference between playing an individual sport and players relying on their own athletic abilities versus a team sport when members of the team rely on their teammates to complete each individual's specific responsibility to reach the team's goal. Team sports bring people together in countless ways, and they teach many life skills for the athletes that participate in them. Some of these skills include communication, teamwork, discipline, work ethic, dedication, leadership, and numerous more that will help them in their personal and work

Athletes spend a lot of time together; they practice, compete, and travel together. College athletes often even live together. Through this time together, teammates often become life long friends. Friendships that develop through sports are usually very strong because athletes have to be able to depend on each other, on and off the field, court, or mat. Friends made while playing sports are friends that will be with you for the rest of your life, and have the most memories with.

Sports was a part of my life growing up - whether it was attending games with my family to support the Huskies at Rentschler Field or Wolfpack hockey games at the Hartford Civic Center or even being part of a basketball team since before middle school, I have grown to love the atmosphere that sport brings. Whether it was assisting my Mom coach in our town’s T-Ball league or working with the disabled or even with the students at Wish Elementary School, through sports, I have been able to build a solid sense of a wider community. It is not just about the game itself but it is about what happens in-between and after. It is the indescribable bonds that form between

In our society sports are a very important social construction. As sports continue to grow, they are becoming more integrated into the major spheres of social life. Sports have become an entity, due to the fact that they not only create entertainment and jobs; sports have become a huge platform for various causes. Sports are extremely important to our society and have very powerful influences. Though experiences vary from person to person, most people have some sort of experience with sports. I personally have experienced sports more from the spectator and participant stance, and have been impacted from each perspective a great deal. Compared to sophomore safety, Jamal Adams my sports experience has been very different from impact and perspective.

In the Journal “Sport and Society: Annual Review of Sociology” written by Robert E. Washington and David Karen they talk about gender and sports in one section of their Journal. In this section the author addresses masculinity in sports and the attempts of Title IX to try and make sports equal in the sense that if women make up 40% of the athlete population they should receive 40% of the resources. However, this is not the case “The most recent data (Suggs 2000) reveal that in 1998–1999 women made up 42% of Division I athletes, received 42% of scholarship monies, 31% of recruiting budgets, 34% of coaching-salary budgets, and 33% of total operating expenses. According to Andrew Zimbalist (2000:B9), women “still play in inferior facilities, stay in lower-caliber hotels on the road, eat in cheaper restaurants, benefit from smaller promotional budgets, and have fewer assistant coaches.” (Washington and Karen, 2001) This long quote showcases that although women are starting to get what they deserve when it comes to a the percentage of Athletics that they comprise it is still not up to par. Although it is not technically salary, the gap in scholarship money and money spent of faculty for female athletes showcases how money it’s sports always goes to the male athletes no matter at what level. In a more recent example that further pushes the points that were made in Washington and Karen’s journal would be the U.S. Women’s Soccer team compared to the U.S. Men’s Soccer team. Both

From my first T-Ball team to my senior year track club, the comradery and confidence I have gained from competing on numerous sports teams has made an enormous impact on my life. Growing up, I went to a very small Catholic school. With less than 100 students in the entire school district. In third grade, our family moved to Manteno. Where each grade level had at least 120 students. Baseball and Basketball were crucial for me in my early years. It was how I became acquainted with most of my friends growing up in Manteno. If it wasn’t for competing on a team, I would have stayed timid for the rest of my life. With the confidence sports have gave me, I have been able to challenge myself to experience the world and all

Participating in organized basketball and football for ten years presented me the opportunity to achieve common goals working side-by-side with a variety of different personalities. Playing sports drove home the importance of harnessing different personalities and skill sets as key components to teamwork. Fundamental to teamwork is the ability to encourage others, to pick up new information, to learn from mistakes, to hold oneself accountable and to overcome defeat. Over time I have found that the lessons learned through team sports are broadly applicable tools for success. For instance, this past summer my

Sports has a way of uniting people, regardless of their age, gender, or race. The students of City Youth look forward to their

From their friendships came trust. They became open to the constructive criticism of each other. “As they began to see traces of tension and nervousness in one another, they began instinctively to draw closer together. They took to huddling on the float before and after workouts, talking about what, precisely, they could do to make each other row better than the one before, looking one another in the eye, speaking earnestly” (Brown 326) As a team, they came to an understanding that their strength as a group was their endurance. Each teammate never gave up because he did not want to let his teammates down. Working together in class and in sports at Belmont Hill builds friendship and trust. From my first day in school, I was welcomed by my classmates and I felt like I became part of something. I expect that eventually I will develop friendships and bonds of trust with my classmates. My classmates represent a diverse collection of talents and abilities. I feel that I can learn something from each one of them, and hopefully they can learn something from

It allows the collaboration of athletes to come together and create a family. This produces a form of brotherhood, each one reliant on one another. For example, April moved from Chicago to Washington and didn’t know a single soul much less than where she was. She loved the thrill of playing volleyball and she decided to go out for the team. After joining the team, her horizons were expanded to different characters, attitudes and personalities. She learned the values of dependability, friendship, patience, accountability, and received support from her teammates. A wise man once said, “Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

Sports have always played a huge role in defining who I am as a person. When asked to describe myself, one of the first things that come to mind is a “sports enthusiast.” It is not until recently that I learned there was a deeper meaning to this description I once used to label myself. I found that my love for sports was a direct reflection of the word teamwork and the impact that this simple term had on my character. The first day I stepped on to that field the importance of being a team player was introduced. At six years old this concept can seem out of reach, but as I grew older and wiser I began to better understand that my desire for being a team player was something special. Being a

Since I came from a small middle school and wouldn’t know anybody coming into high school I decided to play football so I would make friends over the summer. Since then every friend I have at sSchool has come in some way shape or form come from playing a sport. It also makes family reunions/random encounters more enjoyable with adults. I always have some things to talk about with my grandpa, cousins or uncles regarding how my basketball team is doing this year, or what kind of offense we run in football. Not only has sports dominated my social life with my peers, it also connects me with all athletes past and future. This shows that

Working with people so frequently toward a common goal such as succeeding at a sport is an immensely strong way to create bonds among people, and I have certainly made some crucial bonds in my time playing soccer. Joe Cocker sang it in 1969: “I get by with a little help from my friends,” and that applies to a great number people including myself. My friends have pushed and encouraged me in all aspects of my life, so it is without a doubt that out of all the opportunities that I’ve received from branching out into various parts of the sport, the best thing I’ve ever been granted is some of my strongest friendships. I met many of my best friends through playing on the same team for a number of years, and even after we’ve no longer played for

Sport sociology examines sports as a part of cultural and social life, and adds a different dimension and perspective to the study of sport and exercise. More specifically, sport sociology examines the relationship between sports and society and seeks answers to many issues and questions regarding sport and culture. Sociology of sport poses critical and controversial issues; additionally, sports are considered a microcosm of society, the same social issues that exist in larger society also exist in sport culture. I have chosen eight peer-reviewed Sociological Journals to expand upon the understanding of this topic that I found to be the most relevant and offer diverse yet complete perspectives on sports.