vicAde.....: CONCEPT OF SPORTS

U.N.E.S.C.O (2005) defined sport as ?any physical activity which has the character of play and which involves a struggle with oneself or with others, or a confrontation with Natural Elements in a sport?.

If this activity involves competition it must be perform with a spirit of sportsmanship. There can be no true sport without fair play. Sport thus defined is a remarkable means of education.??

Oxford English Dictionary defined sport as competition for a prize discipline effort for self improvement.

Larry (2006) quoted Synder and Spretzer that sport is self evident until one is asked to define it. Sport therefore, is often the antithesis of recreation and diversion in that it may constitute the main area of stress and tension in a person?s life.

Sports can be both an amateur or professional enterprise. It can be carried out in a person?s leisure time or it can be a means of employment it goes without saying that sports stresses competition through physical exertion, indeed, the outcome off these exertions is recorded, hence giving sports a well tabulated history. Rewards in sports can be in form of prices, trophies or monetary gain.

Larry (2006) says, sports provides little opportunity for fantasy or make believe and that it constitutes competition, not only between individuals and local terms but also between countries and continents.

Bucher (1983) defined sports as a game or contest involving individuals and group of individual skills or physical powers on which money or reward is at stake and is also done for personal and natural love. He also opined that sport is important to the societies as well as students and to physical educators. It is a medium that permeates every aspect of life. Physical educators are therefore interested in studying the influence of sports and the socio-cultural complex of the society.

Ajala (1990) opined that sports are such activities that grant amusement whether competitive or recreational, and it includes: hunting, fishing, mountaineering and a host of others. Singer (1976) conceived sports as human activity that involves specific administrative organization and a historical background or rules and regulations which define the objective and limit the pattern of human behaviour. It involves competition and a definite outcome primarily determined by physical skill. Sport, Culture and Tourism (1998) observed that sport is an essential tool for building strong individuals and vibrant communities, to enhance collective pride and identify the sense of belonging. It asserted that through sports in their respective communities, Canadians learnt to violate and to accept a sense of responsibility for a civil society.

Bucher (1983) opined that sports if well structured provide a social environment whereby societal attitudes are shaped into a positive manner through social stimulus situation. He observed that sport is a veritable tool for enhancing social interaction and integration particular among the youths competing for laurels in various events. However Sport, Culture and Tourism, (1998) observed that sport contributes to individual physical, social and character development with the power to be a major influence on marginalized and under-represented groups and individuals. Sport develops self-esteem and helps to overcome personal and social challenges

Penman (1981) observed that adolescents develop maturely in strength, co-ordination and co-operation when they participate frequently in sport. Participation in sport and physical activity at all ages increase resistance to such diseases as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, obesity and mental health disorders. An increased investment in sport means an increase in health quality and a decrease in health care costs. It is expedient to say that sports worldwide is now a cohesive force for building friendship among nations, building bridges of peaceful co-existence and a strong political and economic weapon for development.

Chambas, (2006) therefore asserted that any institution that treats sports development with levity is doing so at its peril. Sport has the potential to provide a cutting edge for an enclave for dropouts. Universities and Secondary School should therefore be the vanguard of moulding sportsmen and women who can stand on their own intellectually in all spheres of life through proper sports administration.

Consequently the sociologist of sports who works within a Marxist Lenninst ideology sees sports as a means to and end. For example, Larry (2006) affirms that the physical qualities of man were in the past, and are of this dya, one of the fundamental conditions of material production. The starting point is the fact that physical culture and sports are a social process, which in a purposeful and systematic way makes their contribution to turn man into a creative producer of material and spiritual values.??

However, it may well be that those who play, enjoy and take passionate interest in sports spend a limited amount of time thinking of its importance in cultural terms. The world of sports for them is one of flesh and bloods, sweat and tears, aches and pains, frustration and elation. It is in effect, real and not some illusionary pastime. The same can be said for educationists, the national sports organizations, the town planners, the mass media and the vast numbers of spectators be they active followers or armchair sportsman. Sports permeates practically every facets of life, it affects mass communications, economics, business, law, art, education and to an increasing amount politics.

Sports in some countries are therefore used as a vehicle to facilitate progress and achievement of the communist ideals. This of course different from the western philosophy although both systems may be using sports as a means to an end. Certainly the military man would see sports as an employable adjunct to physical fitness, which in turn would presumably increase fighting efficiency.

In the 19^th (Nineteenth) century, the English middle classes saw sports as a legitimate means of character training; indeed, some might argue that various establishments still subscribe to this belief. Some writers feel that through sports much can as well as its social organization.

Morton (2005) wrote about sports in the soviet Union said ?analysis of a nation at play reveals the stuff of its social and value systems, and tell us much about the other facts of political and economic life.????

Morton, of course was writing about a society that sees sports overtly as a political and economic vehicle.

Cozens and Stumpf (2004) reviewing American sporting life, believed that : ?Sports and games provide a touchstone for understanding how people life, work and think, and many also serve as a barometer of a nation?s progress in civilization.?

Source: http://vicadeworks.blogspot.com/2013/01/concept-of-sports.html

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