Sports are a significant part of human life and always have been. Through sports, we better understand cultural and human values, appreciate the human body, and strive for excellence. Sports are a great learning experience for children, and sports medals and custom ribbons can immensely boost children’s self-confidence.
The ancient Greeks were not the first to appreciate the sport, but they are perhaps among the most famous. They who admired the human form formed the same Olympics that are still around 2000 years later. The Romans indulged in brutal blood sports to reflect the values of a culture steeped in violence and born of conquest. Many Native Americans, especially those on the plains, valued competitions testing the speed and accuracy with which they could use their weapons, as many aspects of their hunter-gatherer culture depended upon this Web Job Posting.
In our culture today, we see the commercialization of sports prevalent from high school games through all other levels to professional. What has been a pastime in different cultures has become a lifelong occupation for some in our culture. The better players are paid better, and winning is the only option for success.
What will people 1000 years from now think when they look back at our sports and how we play them? Perhaps they will see the ferocious fans getting into fights with each other in the stands and even with players on the court or field. Maybe they will see humans sold like hunks of meat to run into one another and catch a ball for outrageous sums of money to giant sports franchises. What will they think of drug use and drug testing?
With so much emphasis within today’s society on winning in sports and across the board, the poor conduct of many people involved in sports is not surprising. Sports should teach children the value of competition and how to endeavor toward excellence. They should try to be their best, competing against themselves instead of others. This would shift the focus from dominating others to improving oneself.
The benefits of sports are numerous and highly researched. From inclusion and the elimination of racism to increasing graduation rates, athletics can be a crucial part of a person’s life and a beneficial one. One study showed that high school students involved in sports earned higher grades got into trouble less often, were less likely to drop out, had higher GPAs, and were more likely to graduate than students who did not participate in sports.
Attitudes in high school sports must remain positive, though. Focus on winning and dominating the competition can make kids feel unwanted, unworthy, and unacceptable, one expert argues. It should not teach children that they are failures but teach them to handle failure, not accept it, and always continue to better themselves.
If we continue the way we are going in sports, we will be training a generation of sore losers and cocky winners. We need to teach children the value of competition against oneself to have generations of encouraging children who seek to improve themselves.