Putting Sport in Context - Coursework Example

Response to Feedback Original Content, Part 2 The first activity, planning and preparing coaching sessions is a sporting activity. This is because it requires sports skills to accomplish. These include knowledge of sports fitness, sports management activities and professional skills relating to sporting in general. Planning coaching sessions requires practical skills. There is also need for knowledge relating to issues such as the intensity of training, the right diet, the time that training will take, breaks in between training and the need to achieve the overall training objectives. Essentially, the planner has to take into consideration knowledge and understanding of the sport, have cognitive skills and generally approach coaching sessions from a professional perspective (Garland, Malcolm, & Rowe 2000). The second activity, actual coaching of children, is a physical activity. This is because coaching in today’s society demands the physical input and practical participation of the coach. Giving a player the instructions to conduct an activity for instance is not as effective as actually showing them what requires to be done. As such, the coach participates as much as the players in the activities scheduled for a coaching session. This fact can be explained through the transformation of the sports arena from the early 1900 when a swimming instructor, for instance, would guide a swimming session from the sidelines of a pool and would assist a troubled swimmer, without necessary getting into the water, with a long pole. In contrast, today’s swimming instructor is always in a swim suit ready to dive into the water should the need arise. In addition to this, swimming instructors get into the water themselves during training sessions, practically illustrating the body movements necessary (Study Guide 2008). Revised Content Question 2 Categorization Football has become a household name in most regions of the world. To most people, it is considered a sport since they engage in it for leisure purposes. The physical activity carried out in football serves to improve the experience in the sport as well as enhance efficiency. The major difference between a sport and a physical activity is the competitiveness involved. Physical activities are also not governed by any regulations unlike sports (Stevens 2008). Football entails teamwork, a virtue that is of importance in life, competitiveness and physical activity. In addition, the game is governed by rules set by an international body, Federation of International Football Association, FIFA. According to UNICEF (2004), a sport must be regulated through rules and this, therefore, makes football a sport (UNICEF 2004). Most countries, however, have bodies that control football activities in their territory. Football involves physical activities which the players must engage in for fitness. These activities are guided by a coach but in the absence of one, the team must organize itself in a way that will lead to effective training. Teamwork is a major requirement in football and players must learn how to collaborate with each other. The competitiveness of the sport makes it all the more interesting. Torkildsen (2005) states that a sport involves competition at all levels and thus, winning is major achievement in football (Torkildsen 2005). Practice is also a common feature in football as it enables the team members to acquire actual skills required when playing. Football has developed over a long period of time with changes in rules and other factors but the spirit of the sport remains the same. It has been used as a unifying factor by many countries and thus plays a major role in society as well as development of children. Commentary The feedback from the tutor revealed that the original content had not followed the instructions. The new draft reviews the section and puts appropriate information in the paper. The new draft identifies football as a sport and explores rules that make it a sport. The new text explains what football is, what it entails and looks at what makes it a sport rather than a physical activity. Some of the factors identified include the competitiveness involved, the rules governing the game and the requirement of physical activities as well as practice. The tutor had also identified the lack of knowledge in referencing. This has been rectified in the new draft with proper in text citation. The use of outside sources to increase the validity of the information provided has also been taken into consideration. In addition, the tutor identified the use of strong points as strength in writing essays. The new draft has simplified the essay into strong points for the argument and the flow of information from one paragraph to the other has been maintained. Overall, the new draft follows the instructions provided by the tutor and focuses on football as a sport. Part 2 Winchmore Hill Youth Club This is an initiative that aims at providing teenagers with growth opportunities through participation in sport. The training facility is located at the Paulin Ground. The club has fostered a good relationship with schools in the area to enable it to continue monitoring and helping the children develop to the best of their ability (Winchmore Hill SC 2011). The organization of the club enables the teenagers to be trained according to their ages. The children are divided into different age groups and each group is assigned a leader or coach. This is an important aspect in the development of children. Younger children should get less physical training but this is increased as the children continue to grow (Rink, Hall, & Williams 2010). The availability of coaches in the club helps the youth to get professional help. The club has also developed a constitution which guides its actions. It is vital to note that participation is voluntary in the club. The football club mainly engages in football activities with the main players being children under the age of 18. The children in the club come from the surrounding area. The opportunities provided by the club are a great advantage to the local community as children get a chance to practice and develop their skills from a young age. These children participate in various amateur youth leagues and this exposes them to the actual field of play. The local teenagers, therefore, benefit a lot from the availability of the club in the area. One of the distinctive features of the club is the availability of a structured management. This has enabled the club to cater fully for the different age groups in the club, thereby providing them with dedicated training and opportunities which can lead to full achievement of their potential. Management is an important aspect in youth sport as it enables the teenagers to develop their skills in a manner that supports other activities in their lives (Pedersen, Parks, Quarterman, & Thibault 2010). Proposal to Increase Participation Incentives The exact number of youth in the club is not known, but trends show that there has been a continuous decrease in the number of people who participate in football. To increase this number, the club can opt to use several measures which will generate interest in the game and thus bring in more people. One such strategy would be to provide incentives to the enrolled players. The teenagers and children who participate in the club are students in schools and thus they can pass the information about the incentives received at the club. Incentives provide motivation for people to participate in social activities (Zeigler 2003). If the incentives are good enough, they will attract a large number of people (Chelladurai 2006). Involvement of both sexes Females have been continuously underrepresented in the football community despite their huge input (Nicholson, Hoye, & Houlihan 2010). Several reasons have been advanced for this discrimination. Some argue that the sport is too physical for women to participate. However, this is not the case as the world has witnessed world class football played by women (Swedan 2001). To demonstrate this, the governing body in world football has initiated a competition similar to the men’s world cup for women. This means that the input of women in football should not be ignored and, in fact, measures should be put in place to ensure that they get a fair chance to participate in this beloved sport of the world. Winchmore should take the opportunity to develop female players and thus play a role in the development of female football as a whole. England has developed a league for both sexes and this has ensured that discrimination in sports based on sex has diminished (Brackenridge 2006). Increasing the number of girls in the facility would therefore lead to improvement in participation at the club. This would also be inline with the constitution of the club which states that it provides opportunities to all children without discrimination based on sex (Winchmore Hill SC 2011). Motivation should, therefore, be provided to girls in the area from a young age so that they can participate in the training program at the club. The number of children in the Winchmore area aged between 5 and 15 is approximately 10 percent of the total population (Corporate Policy and Research 2009). Targeting children and especially girls at this age can lead to increased participation in the club. Girls lack motivation and social support to participate in sports such as football (Coelho e Silva, Figueiredo, Elferink-Gemser, & Malina 2009). The development of incentives and social support for girls would, therefore, play a great role in increasing their number in the club. The support for girls in the sport can be achieved through education on the importance of participation in sport as well as other physical activities. Creation of awareness about women football could also serve to increase the number of people involved n the club. The rise of women sports has been a major phenomenon in the world and this would provide them with a platform to showcase their skills. Education of the public and creation of awareness about developing the girl child, not only in education, but also in sport would play a great role in increasing the participation in the facility. Information has previously served as a barrier to achievement of several goals and thus it can be said that provision of the same would increase the number of people participating in the game (Research and Library Services 2010). The incentives and social support provided to the girls would be important aspects as they would provide motivation to the female teenagers to participate in the game. The goal of football varies from person to person and within gender circles, the variation is even more. Education about the goal of the game and its intended outcome for the participants would provide parents, girls and teachers with information on the need to encourage female participation in the sport. Such a strategy would, therefore, serve as an education tool for the community as well as a tool for increasing participation in the club (Siedentop, Hastie, & Van Der Mars 2011). References Brackenridge, C 2006, Child welfare in football: an exploration of childrens welfare in the modern game, Routledge, Oxon. Chelladurai, P 2006, Human resource management in sport and recreation, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. Coelho e Silva, M, J, Figueiredo, A, J, Elferink-Gemser, M, T, & Malina, R, M 2009, Youth Sports: Participation, Trainability and Readiness, Imprensa da Univ. de Coimbra, Portugal. Corporate Policy and Research 2009, Ward Profile: Winchmore Hill 2009, Available from http://www.enfield-observatory.org.uk/downloads/Winchmore%20Hill%202009.pdf [3 November 2011] Nicholson, M, Hoye, R, & Houlihan, B 2010, Participation in sport: international policy perspectives, Routledge, Oxon. Pedersen, P M, Parks, J, Quarterman, J, & Thibault, L 2010, Contemporary Sport Management, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. Research and Library Services 2010, Barriers to Sportd and Physical Activity Participation. Available from www.niassembly.gov.uk/researchandlibrary/2010/1810.pdf [3 November 2011] Rink, J, E, Hall, T, J, & Williams, L H 2010, Schoolwide Physical Activity, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. Siedentop, D, Hastie, P A, & Van Der Mars, H 2011, Complete Guide to Sport Education. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. Stevens, A 2008, Open Mic: What is a Sport?, Available from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/34648-open-mic-what-is-a-sport [3 November 2011] Swedan, N 2001, Womens sports medicine and rehabilitation, Aspen Publishers, Maryland. Torkildsen, G 2005, Leisure and recreation management, Routledge, Oxon. UNICEF 2004, Sport, recreation and play, UNICEF, New York. Winchmore Hill SC 2011, Winchmore Hill Youth F.C, Available from http://www.winchmorehill.org/football/football_youth.html [3 November 2011] Zeigler, E F 2003, Socio-cultural foundations of physical education & educational sport, Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen. Read More