The Effects Of Religion On Athletic Performance

Through athletics I have grown closer to my classmates and coaches. We have won two City-Counties and hoping to win two more. Incorporated in the competitive nature I have also learned more about the virtues and how we use them in our everyday life. I also was taught that God gave me all my talents and abilities. Praying before all of our games we would pray and I know that God was watching over us helping both teams

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

Sports—which involve emotion, competition, cooperation, achievement, and play—provide a rich area for psychological study. People involved in sports attempt to master very difficult skills, often subjecting themselves to intense physical stress as well as social pressure. research has expanded into numerous areas such as imagery training, hypnosis, relaxation training, motivation, socialization, conflict and competition, counseling, and coaching. Specific sports and recreational specialties studied include baseball, basketball, soccer,

Over the years, the growth and changes in competitive sports has increased significantly. Sports games are now available twenty four seven weather it’s on national television or the radio, these activities have become a staple to American culture. Due in part to this, organizations have changed American athletics from more of a fun playtime to competition. Although, we may enjoy watching an intense sports game on television, the emotional and physical long term effects outweigh the entertainment of the people eagerly watching these activities occur. Also, the motivation to play the sport has become less about the team aspect and more about the emphasis on victory. Due to the unhealthy support from those around developing athletes, they’re

Have you ever wondered how two athletes with two different faiths can change their own lives by their ways of living? Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner and a faithful Christian. On the other hand, Harold Abraham was a British runner and a Jew who struggled to change other people’s thought of Jews. Both of these men ran in the 1924 Olympics for different purposes. The movie “Chariots of Fire” showed how Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams differed from one another. Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams were different in their faith, economic status, and their motivations.

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

Individuals participate in rituals for various reasons. As explained in Baseball Magic by George Gmelch, athletes often participate in rituals for superstition-based purposes. These athletes tend to participate in rituals or taboo in order to improve their performance on the field. Alternatively, The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual, written by Richard Sosis, describes that participation in religion-based rituals is often with the intent of improving the communication and cohesion of a group. Although Gmelch introduces ritual participation in the context of individual performance and Sosis in the context of group performance, both authors explain how rituals can benefit a given group or scenario. As an individual who has both witnessed and

many young athletes’ perceptions that their parents expect them to be extraordinary and would criticize them if they failed to deliver. The added pressure from coaches to be perfect can also deter young athletes’ focus on doing what is right or doing what will allow them to succeed and ultimately satisfy their parents and coaches desires (Madigan, Stoeber & Passfield, 2016).

1..An American Apotheosis, written by Joseph L. Price, discusses the religious element of sports. His thesis, “For tens of millions of devoted fans throughout the country, sports constitute a popular form of religion by shaping their world and sustaining their ways of engaging it.” (Price, p. 196) Takes on the difficult challenge of defining sport as religion. This is done through Price’s exploration of how sports shape and engage the world for the millions of devoted fans in America, how sports enable participants to explore levels of selfhood, how sports establish a means for bonding with the devotee community, how sports model ways to deal with fate while playing by the rules and how sports provide the prospect of experiencing abundant life.

As stated earlier baseball can be considered to be just like other types of world religions, due to the fact that baseball just like other world religions’ creates a following for itself that people can be tied and bounded to. To further emphasize this point, in the scholarly journal article entitled The Church of Baseball, the Fetish of Coca-Cola, and the Potlatch of Rock ’n’ Roll: Theoretical Models for the study of Religion in American Popular Culture, by David Chidester, American director and producer of documentary films Ken Burns talks about how baseball as a religion has created a following for itself. Ken Burns talks about how baseball is a religion due to the fact that it operates in U.S. culture, much like a church does, and Ken Burns justifies his explanation by coming up with the term “The Church of Baseball” (744). Ken Burns uses this term in order to describe how baseball is in itself a religion due to the fact that baseball is an organized human activity that functions the very same way as other types of more familiar religious institutions (Chidester 744). Furthermore, Ken Burns and the article’s author David Chidester, go on to talk about how baseball as a religion has created a following for itself by stating that, “The “church of baseball” is much more than merely the rule book. It is a religious institution that maintains the

Our thoughts, diet/nutrition, exercise, rest, environment and physiology have a positive or negative impact on us which affects how well we perform and feel. In the world of sports, this is very easy to demonstrate because the mind/body connection provides you with immediate feedback. When you are positive, your performance excels. When you are negative, your performance is adversely affected. With various types of distress, or

Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).

The information gathered has been used to inform people on religion and sports . Starting with the article by Albert Mohler this article perfectly state's the effect that sports has had on religion. The relationship between sports and religion has always close and often awkward. The massive growth of involvement in sports at the expense of church activities and involvements. About fifteen years ago a catholic archbishop of New York lamented the fact that little league baseball was taking his altar boys away on Sundays. This was the start of the sports and religion dilemma.

Sports and religion are things that can go together in many ways. Sports were founded on religion and were kept strong by religion. Now sport is taking over as religion almost in today's world. Sports can promote things that are not necessarily right according to God but we participate anyway. While how the mind and body are connected give another way of how sport is. Finally, we see that sports in a modern context have changed greatly and are ritual heavy one would almost say idolic. Religion and sports are both here to stay and they really are a way something that can unite everyone.

In America, despite the number of people who attend church and participate in religious activities, you could assume sports are the new religion. There's the seasonal NASCAR on Sundays and Monday night football, but most sports such as, baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey hold their events on any given day of the week. Many Americans arrange their schedules to either attend or watch these events on television. You could even go so far as to say Americans idolize athletes and sports stars, considering the billions of dollars spent on sporting events and merchandise. We?re very proud of sports and proudly wear our favorite team or player across our chests, on our heads, and display logos on our cars and in our houses.