The Importance Of Individuality In Sports

Sports are a popular pastime among all ages and types of people. People not only participate in them for fun, but also for money, physical fitness, rush of competition, and for many other personal reasons. Playing sports is especially common among young people in schools. Athletics are great and enjoyable for many reasons, but there can be a point where sports participation can go too far and become negative for children and adults. Sports specialization for young people is an increasing trend that results in sports having a negative impact on individuals and society.

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.

There are a lot of aspects that should be taken into account when determining what makes an athlete successful. One could argue that natural ability is one of the determining factors which leads to success. For example, if an athlete has dreams of playing in the NBA then height makes a difference. There aren’t many successful players in the league under six feet tall. One could argue that level of competition plays a role in the development of an athlete. This could include the skill level of the opponent or outside factors such as playing conditions or game circumstances. These types of arguments play a role in athlete success, but will not be used in this paper because they are factors that are out of the athlete’s control. This paper

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

While specializing in sports has increased in young athletes, we are now learning more about the side effects of specializing. The research states that in the United States, there is nearly 72% of school-aged youth that participated in one organized sports team or club. Out of 1200 youth athletes, there was 30% of young athletes that reported that they are specialized in a single sport (Myer et.al 66). In the United States the increase in organized sports as increased from children 6 years and younger starting at 9% in 1997 to 12% in 2008. At the High school level, there has been an increase in sports specialization (Jayanthi 251). Although specializing in a sport may allow an athlete to be strong in that sport, it also can hurt athletes that specializing in a sport.

I enjoyed your assessment on deviance and over conformity, but I have to disagree on the form of deviance. I think PED's are certainly a problem in sports, but I think it's definitely more under control because of the more severe penalties handed down in today's sports. If this was still the steroid era in baseball I think I would agree with you more. I think marijuana is becoming more of a concern than PED use in today's sports.

The issue presented in this case study is the lack of representation of minority reach in professional sports organizations. The lack of diversity is a recognized issue among the professional sports ranks specifically the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Player’s Golf Association (PGA), and National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). To improve diversity scores from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) Racial and Gender report card many professional sports leagues have implemented initiatives to increase the minority presence. However, with limitations stemmed from financial barriers, lack of qualified candidates, and market exposure these leagues have not noticed an immediate

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary the term “deviant” can be defined as, “deviating or departing from the norm” (2007). Webster also defines deviant as “a person or thing that deviates or departs markedly from the accepted norm” (2007). This particular word has a strong correlation to the sports world, whether its basketball, football, tennis, or any other sport, deviant behavior can occur. According to research there are two different types of deviant behavior in sport. Those two versions of deviant behavior are under-conformity and over-conformity. Under-conformity refers to “behavior that does not conform to the generally accepted rules of sport” (Woods, 2007). An example of under-conformity would be when respective athletes break their team rules, school rules, or the rules for competition. Over-conformity refers to the “expectation of high performance sport” (Citation). Over-conformity has several different examples but some of the more prominent examples are athletes that use supplements to improve their strength, and or physique (Woods, 2007).

In an ever-changing society, Humans will always find new ways to change and advance, they will also always find ways to express who they are and how they perceive themselves. One way humans have been recently expressing this is by identifying themselves as new and different genders. Though with this form of expression brings up issues that need to be resolved in order to advance as a society. One area in which this topic is becoming a dilemma is in scholastic sports. Teen athletes who are undergoing a transgender operation, or consider themselves a different gender than the one they were born with have been feeling discriminated or out of place as many state athletic governing commissions will not allow them to compete in their perceived genders

Transgender people for decades have been experiencing issues related within sports. The main problem has revolved around which gender specific sport an athlete can compete in and if they have an advantage in doing so, if they are transgender. This issue has caused a debate between the transgender community and the non-transgender community. The main issue is whether a transgender athlete should compete within their birth certificate gender and if it is fair for them to compete in sports. This topic has been discussed for the past year and has made national news many times in the past couple of years. Transgender athletes are the same as everyone else, just because they’re different doesn’t mean that they should be banned from competing in sports.

It has been identified that through sports psychology one can improve their physical ability and performance. Sports psychology is the study of how the mind, mental states and behaviour effect sporting performance. There are several sport psychology techniques, which have helped me become a better volleyball player. These techniques include planning for performance, controlling arousal levels, mental rehearsal and concentration.

Diversity originally was referred to as race, gender, or sexual orientation, but today its meaning has expanded. Diversity also involves economic, educational, and generational differences. Diversity’s counterpart inclusion supports that all individuals are valuable to the organization, not just those who are different. Diversity and inclusion have great value to the performance of any entity. Ethics deals with moral principles that govern a person’s behavior. Throughout the semester we have discussed diversity, inclusion, and ethics in sport and how they affect individuals in the workplace as well as life in general as I will discuss throughout my research. We’ve also applied these terms with classroom activities and relevant events held throughout the semester including guest speakers, the boxing gala, and most recently the IFC.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to

Formal sports have goals and objectives but also attributes many benefits. Formal sports can be described to have organized youth leagues and structured practices that are controlled by adults. The nature of personal involvement in formal sports is winning and playing fair. Players have to follow official standard league rules. Referees enforce the rules of the game. Games and practices are structured. There is an official league schedule to follow with league standings. Winning and playing well is valued in formal sports. Community status is enhanced when a local team wins the league or national championship. Coaches hold official structured practices and team rules have to be followed by every player. During the game, referees will penalize

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.