What Is Mainstream Sport?

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

Career achievements need to be based on professional conduct and milestones covered. However, the big sports associations such as Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) tend to factor in other principles as well (Withers 147). For these leagues, certain behaviors off the field are keen indicators that determine how a player is viewed. With such efforts, these leagues aim to maintain a standard that professional athletes can use to guide their lives. However, there are questions that linger regarding the forms of conduct that are deemed to be unworthy of these athletes. The question is also posed to the wider society since these professionals are a part of it (Schrotenboer

The institutional level is not just about the influence of schools; it also looks at the availability of facilities and the structure of organised sport within a community. The rules of different sports are also considered as part of an analysis of the institutional level. Sporting rules, which are determined and standardised by sports’ governing organisations, can restrict access to certain groups and individuals.

All of the publicity that is attained by success, and the possibility of this success, places a great deal of pressure and stress on these young single-sport athletes. This stress and pressure takes the fun out of some sports. Youth sports are becoming serious and based more on winning than on having a great time and learning good sportsmanship. Adu points out the winning mindset of athletes in this day and age when he says, “Teams will do anything to win the game. My coach told me to expect that going in and that is exactly how it was. . .I felt like everybody was out to get me” (Goodall, 2003). This

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.

One thing almost every young child looks forward to is the activity of play. Kids love nothing more than to go outside, run around with friends, and get dirty. If children are already active at a young age, why not encourage them to continue by enrolling them in an organized youth sport program? Young people will gain many positive experiences by participating in organized physical activities, but none as important and influential as the social skills, physical skills, and mental skills developed and nurtured during their time in youth sport. As a result, the young participants can continue to build upon and cultivate these skills which will ultimately be transferred into their development as successful adults. Along with the social and

As a casual reader of the sports section of this newspaper, you come across many articles depicting the triumphs of local athletes. However, very rarely do these articles describe the actual athlete behind the success. Athletes come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. They range from the incredibly talented to the horribly uncoordinated. Some are great teammates while others would rather be a one man team. Certain athletes seek out attention from the people around them while others are modest and stay in the background. The fact of the matter is that there is a wide spectrum of different types of athletes that exist in this world and no two athletes are exactly the same. However, each can be put

Sport is a global phenomenon, it is a common between all the nations of the world there is not one culture that has not engaged in a way or another in some type of sporting activity; such activities are not only often physically challenging and mentally stimulating – they also provide a sense of belonging and personal meaning to people’s lives. In American culture like many other cultures worldwide winning is highly prized and cherished by fame and money from audiences and sponsors.

It’s often an uphill fight. The ego-driven culture of basketball, and society in general, militates against cultivating this kind of selfless action, even for members of a team whose success as individuals in tied directly to the group performance. Our society places such a high premium on individual achievement, it’s easy for players to get blinded by their own self-importance and lose a sense of interconnectedness, the essence of teamwork.”

There can be a dark underside to competition when coaches, athletes, and even fans let the heat of the moment hijack

Sports are organized social organizations that have positive effects but can often create a mob mentality for those individuals that participate in organized sports. Drug abuse and gambling are issues that run rampant within the social area for those that participate within sports. There are many things that contribute to a negative connotation when it comes to sports culture. Athletes often go along with the flow and allow anything to happen as long as it is okay with the other players. Many of the negative things that athletes participate in are due to lack of an individual mind because many athletes often think about the overall instead of individual with can have a positive or negative outcome. There are many positive for organized sports but unfortunately the negatives over overshadow

Another characteristic of a subculture is the language/jargon used by its members. Language can refer to the way its members walk, talk, carry themselves, the slang words used, etc. Within my gymnastics team there was a lot of language we used that set us apart from other subcultures. The technical terms used in the sport of gymnastics is one of the obvious language barriers because only those who are familiar with the sport understand the terms and their meanings. The way gymnasts carry themselves also sets them apart from others. An example of this is when I was on the track team, a coach pointed out that I ran like a gymnast. Although I was not with my teammates or talking about gymnastics, the way I ran was an indicator of the subculture I was associated with.

Sport plays a huge role in today’s society. It contributes to one’s health and fitness, social interaction, social and motor skills, patriotism, fun and entertainment. It also stimulates the economy and tourism leading to interaction between different cultures, for example the Olympics, and sport role models. Sports clearly are an important part of cultures and societies around the world as such events as the Olympics

Having gone through both elementary and middle school, we have all run into peers who spent a lot of time and energy trying to act like the most popular athlete in any given time period. Kids often try to imitate controversial athletes to bring attention to themselves. Such behavior can bring popularity to a young person. A sad outcome of violence in adult sports is that youth sports end up mirroring adult sports. Young people are encouraged to be aggressive, and often those who are the stars of the team are those who know how to "stretch the rules". Often, young people who do play by the rules are relegated to the bench. As a result, youth athletic teams, even

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.