Sports, Society & Me

Sports have always played a large role in my life. At an early age, I fell in love with two sports that quickly began to control my life. I played basketball and soccer year round, every year until my freshman year of college. Although my dad always prioritized my education, I was always taught that "education will get you into college, but that sports will teach you how to be successful in the world".  My dad couldn't have been more right. Looking back on life I don’t find reading Enders Game, or estimating molarities or learning how to diagram a sentence half as useful or helpful in the world as I do what I learned in playing sports. Sports taught me determination, devotion, love, passion, heart, hard work, reward, how to be a team player, how to set goals, and most importantly, how to get back up again. John Wooden, a legendary basketball coach who wrote a successful memoir stated: "Basketball or any other sport can be great fun to play and entertaining to watch. However, it offers something more important. The lessons it provides—taught properly—apply directly to life. Many of those lessons are usually taught first by a good mother and father, but sports can help make them stick and add a few more." Although I wasn’t fortunate enough to further my career in college, I feel eternally grateful for the opportunity to have experienced sport in the US and to have learned so many important life lessons in the process.

Sport in society is competition. It’s entertainment.  It's highly idolized. While sports play many roles in society, individuals may feel differently on the effects sports play in the US. People may argue that sport causes danger, vulnerability and false prioritizations, others might infer that sport teaches values, determination and sacrifice. US sport teaches us that while talent and hard work are rewarding, money, statistics and fame are equally as important. I personally think professional athletes in society hold a much higher idolization than they deserve. Yes, to become a professional athlete is hard work, but to save a life and fight for our country is a lot more challenging. I think that we hold athletes to higher standards than they can exceed, which causes vulnerability. Athletes are valued  and most are respected if they deserve to be respected, meaning they serve with good intentions and values.

 

What Sport Means in America: A Survey of Sport’s Role in Society

http://www.usada.org/uploads/usadaresearchreport.pdf