Sports in canada - Essay Example

The most common sporting events are ice hockey, soccer, basketball, Canadian football and lacrosse. Sporting activities in Canada serve as a unifying factor for its people who come from different backgrounds of diverse cultures and traditions. This diversity sometimes acts as grounds for disunity and discord amongst the citizenry, and it has been found out that Sport breaks through all these invisible barriers erected by people between each other. Canadian sports are characterized by having a rich history and strong national values are attached to some sports activities.

This is a discussion about the significance of Canadian sports and the different roles and purposes it plays in Canadian society. Canada was home to Native Americans who are referred to as Indians, and they are the aboriginal inhabitants of Canada. The aboriginals used sporting activities to strength and foster strong inter-clan relations that were vital for their survival and general wellbeing. Sporting activities initially developed from people’s daily chores, and as new ways of doing things developed, older ways of doing things was done just for leisure and amusement.

Just like other people from different civilizations, Canadian aboriginals used sports to practice their survival skills. . porting activities that can accredited to the Native Americans are lacrosse, archery, toboggan, canoe races and spear throwing which was later converted to javelin throwing (Morrow & Wamsley 98). In the early development of sports, in the ‘First Nation’ as some people call Canada was faced with a couple of challenges like exploitation, ethnocentric distortion and racism (Canadian Encyclopedia ).

This was especially rampart in the minority groups including black and Native Americans. These minority groups were initially not allowed to participate in the same events as white Europeans by virtue of their skin color and racial background (Canadian Encyclopedia). This has been overcome through various legislative and policy changes in the laws and regulations governing sporting activities in the country. Over time, this has contributed to significant changes in the way sport is perceived by members of the Canadian society.

The sporting tradition in Canada helped encourage and foster national cohesion amongst its people especially between the Native Americans and the occupying Europeans. Sports enabled these two groups to interact on an equal platform where there were no restrictions or boundaries separating them. In modern times, sports in Canada have evolved to become a way of life for some of the more than a million Canadians who play games like ice hockey as part of their a lifestyle. Canadian sport is characterized having two seasons for sport because of the climate in the region.

Canada experiences snowfall for the better part of the year thus necessitating the development and adaptation of sporting activities that are suitable to these conditions. A good example of such a sport is ice hockey which is synonymous with Canada all over the world (Morrow & Wamsley