Introduction – Sports and Society

Introduction – Sports and Society

Sports are organized competitive physical activities and exercises. These fulfill the primal human desire for competition, physical exertion and action. However, all sports are potentially competitive, that is the main difference between sports and recreation, for example, horse racing, skiing and motorized sports such as downhill skiing, inline skating and surfing. Sports can be competitive or non-competitive in nature depending on the type of sport and the culture that surrounds it.

Sports also teach us a lot about our own nature and values. For example, sports that require teamwork and physical exertion such as football, baseball, basketball, swimming, tennis, bicycling and other sports share much in common with the physical challenges of war. And sports that focus on the spirit of competition are similar to war. In war, there is always another soldier, another target, another death etc. War sports teach us to put our emotions on pause, to focus on the here and now, to take it one day at a time and to be strong and unrelenting in the face of adversity.

The first matches of the 20th century were mostly fought between powerful nations with massive spending powers. This was primarily because sports was seen as an important breeding ground for military success. Although sports have become more democratic and are now enjoyed by all sections of society, the nature of sports itself is predominantly male and therefore remains predominantly segregated from the wider social context of gender, class and race.