The History of Sport Development - Essay Example

Introduction Sports have been used for various purposes most of which include social change. There are a number of benefits of which engagement in sports has for the individual participating in it. We find that it helps to reduce the chances of growing obese and therefore hinder the occurrence of problems related to health. At the same time, it diverts the attention of the individuals participating in it from engaging in law breaking due to idleness and it also reduces the chances of a person developing problems related to stress. With the above and many other unmentioned benefits in mind, it is then an activity that can be recommended for all especially the children of all the ages as it can offer great benefits to them. At the same time, we find that the level of participation of children in sports is not evenly distributed within a populace; some children participate more in sports than others. Some of the variables observed with the participation of children include the sex of the child, the social background from where the child comes and the class of the child. The United Kingdom after realizing the importance of the participation of the children in sports implemented a policy that would ensure all children participate in sports. They considered the differences in the household's economic and social status thus came up with the notion of the importance of all the children to participate in sporting activities. This led to the giving of a number of incentives to the willing but unable children probably as a result of economic difficulties to participate in sporting activities. The family, in its central role of bearing and nurturing the children, has a great role it plays in the determination of the sports inclination of the children. This is so because of various factors that affects the family in the promotion of their children's participation in sports. The issues of economic and moral support arise within the family and they impact on the children's inclination towards sports. In general, the participation of children in sports is affected by a complex association of factors that in most of the time work within the family to either offer a chance for the children to participate or to pose as a stumbling block towards the participation of the children in sports. The focus of this paper is to look at the effects that the factors within the family have to do with the participation of children in sports. Main body The family has acted as a means of socialization in sports. The family especially the parents have been known to influence the participation of children in sports in their early childhood. The parents may either prevent their children from participating in sports by explicitly instructing their children not to engage in sports for one reason or another or encourage them to do so by instructing them to do so. At the same time, parents influence the type of the sports their children engage in by asking them to participate in the sports of their own liking and discouraging them from engaging in the kind of sports that may not appeal to them. The amount of time taken for the children to participate in sports is in more often than not regulated by the parents (Hylton and Braham 2008p7). This shows the great influence that the parents have on the development of sports in their children in their early ages. This period in life has been known to be a very crucial time period when the child is learning the basics of life and therefore, any information relented to the children either through implication or explicit instructions at this period in their lives are stored within their mental faculties and judged as the right thing or approach to take within a course. In the course of this socialization into sports, the skills required for successful participation into the particular sports of the parents choice; ideas, coordination, stamina, speed power, attitude and agility, are developed. This then may make the children take up the sports or sporting activities that are influenced by their parents as opposed to the children's wishes (Hylton and Braham 2008p54). The studies conducted by Jambor 1999 as quoted in Lawson 2005, indicated the agency of the family in influencing the children to take up sporting activities. His studies showed that the children from families with members who take part in sports are more likely to take up sports themselves and especially in line with the participation of the same sex parents. Parents' influence is particularly effective in the early and middle ages of the developing child and has the capacity to take up different roles as the child develops their talent. The practical support that the parents offer to their children can influence the children to either participate or fail to participate in sports. The sporting ability of the children depend heavily on their parents capability to invest the necessary resources towards the requirements of the particular sport the children engage in. most of the sporting activities require monetary funding in terms of membership fee, keeping uniform in good condition, transport expenses to and from the point of exercises, and many other things that require money. This then acts to eliminate the children whose families cannot raise the required funding to take care of their sporting activities (Lawson 2005p135-160). Parents influence their children's participation through the time invested and the personal involvement that these parents direct towards their children's involvement into sports. This may require parents to take their time to practically teach their children how to go about the sports and to appear for the matches or games the children participate in for the sake of offering the children moral support (Torkildsen 2004p32). The parents may also take up the development of their children's sporting capabilities by organising activities, coaching, officiating at occasions and contributing towards the children's funding kitty. This can only be done by the parents who display willingness and the ability towards the development of their children's sporting ability. In this case then the more privileged group of children is that which their parents are economically sound e.g. the high and middle class families while the children who hail from lower middle class are forced to give up on their efforts to seek to participate in sports. This can be explained by the findings of Kay and Lowrey's (2002) research, as recorded in Nicholson and Hoye 2008, that indicated how the participation of a child in competitive sports can end up absorbing the whole of the family unit in it to a point that the behaviour and activities of the family are defined by it so that such a family take sport as a way of life (Nicholson and Hoye 2008p68). The family has also been known to contribute towards the differentiation of sports by the children thus encouraging the children to participate in certain sports and avoid some forms of sports. Feminist investigation of sports has shown the role of the family in directing differentiation in girls and boys to the preference of sports and the sporting activities. This is accomplished through the attitudinal creations that the parents place on their children due to their gender thus creating a strong set of gender expectations for the girls and boys on which they base their sports preferences later on in life. Girls shy off from the sports and activities traditionally reserved for men and vice versa (Stewart et. al 2004p32). Social class differentiation has been another common factor within the family that affects the participation of the children in sports. This factor is tied to the fact that the family has the role of offering their support to the children for participation in sports to be effective. The social class factor impacts of the amount of income available to a family to consider the possibility of the children participating in sport; availability of private or public means to assist with the child's mobility requirements for the sport; and the effect of living in particular neighbourhoods with developed or underdeveloped sporting facilities. In this case therefore, children who come from families earning low levels of income are faced with a greater possibility of missing on participating in sports as compared to their counterparts coming from families earning high incomes. This is the reason behind the minimal participation of children from lower social class families in high level performance (Coalter 2008P23). Rowley 1992 explains in Hylton and Braham 2008 that those families earning low levels of income hardly send their children to privately owned institutions of learning that have developed facilitate and greater level of participation into sports (Hylton and Braham 2008p14). This means that these children are denied the chance to excel in sports and participate in high level sports (Gratton and Henry 2001p71). The attitudes and the values that a given family has of some sports contributes to the class differentiation. According to Harrington 2003 as recorded in Frisby and Miller 2002, children with parents working in high paying jobs are hardly encouraged to venture into sports as a way of passing their time unlike the children from the middle class social classes She observed that the children in the middle social classes are motivated by their parents to participate in sports for the sake of maintaining the developmental and health benefits that accrue from participation in sports. Parents in the lower level social families on the other hand were found to encourage their children less to participate in sports. These parents hardly avail themselves to physically participate in sports with their children and their presence in the activity of their children is lacking as well. Consequently, these children spend a very small part of their time in sport as compared to their counterparts in the middle level income earners. Harrington's research implied that deliberate and organized effort to foster child participation in sports is greater in the middle social level household than in the lower social class households (Frisby and Miller 2002pp219-233). Participation of children from the ethnic groups making the black community and the Bangladesh communities in the United Kingdom have shown contrasting patterns. The report of a study done Lowrey 2002 indicates in Nicholson and Hoye 2008 that the Bangladeshi parents tended to discourage their children from participating in sports. The parents that tend to 'value' family ties are often sceptical about their children spending their time participating in sports as opposed to spending it with the rest of the family (Nicholson and Hoye 2008p69). The girls are expected to assist with the household chores and especially look after their younger siblings or their grand parents. Some are required to participate in running their parents' businesses for generating income for the household. The parents of the boys also valued the time these boys spent in generating income for the household or furthering their education better than the time spent participating in sports. In this case then, less numbers of Bangladeshi children residing in the United Kingdom participate in sports. The black community in Britain however strike a different scenario. The households are mostly headed by female single parents most of who earn low incomes that can hardly support the endeavours of their children to participate in sports. Coupled with the lack of a male parent in the household, these families hardly esteem sports or its benefits and neither do they have the financial means to facilitate the participation of the children in sports. The children however do participate in sports but in law numbers (Thomas 2003P9-17). The sport for England has attempted to bridge the gap that exists between the haves, the 'have nots', and other categories of people, ability to participate in sports by identifying the various activities they participate in and the strategies used to meet the activities (Frisby and Miller 2002pp209-218). From the discussion above, we note that there is a general tendency for the society to incline towards observance of individual benefit as opposed to the communal benefit as evidenced by the ability of the families in the high levels of income earning managing to cater for their children's expenses for participating in sports. When compared to the fact that the children coming from low income earning parts of the community are left for fate to determine their course, then the aspect of individualism crops up. The community spirit that once existed prior to the year 1940 has dwindled significantly to the point that the communities are no longer interested in social visits or even trust for each other. The contemporary approach today is evidently exclusively individualism (Collins and Kay2003p19). It is with this regard that sports England has stepped into this divide to ensure that the less privileged members of the society have an approximately fair chance to participate in sports. Through its sponsorship and involvement into community sports, it has offered a significant chance for the talented individuals lacking the means to develop their talents in sport to engage in sports at the grassroots level (McDonald 2005p579-600). The role of sport England The major and overall role of the sport England is the creation of opportunities for all individuals of all ages and abilities in all communities to engage in sports. In their endeavour to meet this goal, they identified a number of targets that help them to remain focussed (Houlihan and White 2002p32). That by 2013; they'll mobilize one million more people to participate in sports; they will have more children and young people engaging in sports for five hours on a weekly basis; improve development of talent in 25 sports; decrees the drop out rate of the 16-18 years category from sports by 25% and to have a greater number of people deriving satisfaction from sports. Through the triggering of the state, sports England made some reviews for community sport in England. This led to the identification of a new strategy for the period 2008-11. This strategy aims at taking care of the challenges that are faced by sports, especially those faced by community sport in England (Girginov 2008p26) Sports England are seeking the partnership of the government, and the national governing bodies in order to maximise the success of English sports by mobilizing talented individuals with a passion to exert more effort hence foster quality development. Sports England seeks to maintain its focus exclusively on sport for the sake of the social and economic roles that sports play within England (Girginov 2008p7). This means that it is seeking to expand its aim to include the aspect of catering for the needs of the participants. In this case then, it will assist with the catering for the needs of the individuals who will participate in sports. Their definition of the roles to be played by the three bodies that foster the development of sports in England ensures that the talent found within the England will be channelled to the point of reaching to the greatest level it possibly can. The Youth Sport Trust will oversee sports in school while sport England will cater for sports within the community and the collaborated effort of sports England and Youth Sport England will ensure the development of a network of modern sports club in conjunction with National Governing Bodies (Girginov 2008p44). The national governing bodies will take care of the investments made on public funds for their sport and will therefore assume greater responsibility for release of the consequences. They will then develop plans for whole-sports showing their intended pathways towards the delivery of the consequences after which sport England will offer grants for the execution of these plans with a reduction of bureaucratic process to ensure speedy delivery of the grants (Gratton and Taylor 2000p46). The national governing bodies will also be expected to present successful undertakings and utilize high standard performance in organising for their internal management and ensure democratic undertakings in dealing with participants. Conclusion The contribution of sports England towards the bridging of the social divide existing between the able people and those individuals who may not be able to participate in sports for various reasons especially the financial reasons is quite significant. Yet the contribution of the family in influencing the participation of children in sports is also significant and equally powerful. This therefore means that a better ruling in the provision of equal chances for equal participation in sports is possible when the contributions of the two are considered. In this regard then the insistence on empowering the members of the society on the significance of engaging in sports is quite relevant as it will help to change the perception that most of the parents and their families have of their children participating in sports. Empowerment is also important in the sense that it enlightens the society on the available agencies that they could go to for the possibility of being helped to join the groups that assist with development of talent. The role of the parents in socializing their children and in the process directing their inclinations towards sport can be tapped to ensure that parents gave the right advice for their children in matters regarding their inclination to sports and participation in it. The discussion above seems to support the parental participation in motivating their children to engage in sports through expressing an interest in their children's involvement in physical activities. In conclusion, the collaborative effort directed to fostering participation of children in sports is a powerful tool when the roles played by the various stakeholders are well articulated in the endeavour. The role of the parents must never be ignored at any one point but should be strengthened in order for children to be presented with the right information regarding sports and the chances available for participating in it from their tender ages. References Coalter, F. - 2008 'A Wider Social Role for Sport' London Routledge.p23 Collins, M. and Kay, T. -2003- 'Sport and Social Exclusion' London: Routledge p19 Gratton, C & Taylor, P -2000- 'Economics of Sport and Recreation.' London: Spon p46 Gratton, C & Henry, I (eds) -2001- 'Sport in the City' London: Routledge p71 Frisby, W. & Miller, S. -2002- 'Actualities of Doing Community Development to Promote the Inclusion of Low Income Populations in Local Sport and Recreation European Sport Management' pp 209-233. Girginov, V. -2008- 'Management of Sport Development' London; Butterworth-Heinemann p7, 26, 44 Houlihan, B &White, A -2002- 'Sports development politics' London Routledge p32 Hylton, K .& Braham, P. -2008- 'Sports dvt, policy, Practice, and Process' London, Routledge pp7, 14, 54 Lawson, H. (2005) 'Empowering People, development, and sustainability, the public work of games, implementation, and physical academic programs, pp 135-160. McDonald, I. -2005- "Theorising partnerships, authority, talkative action and sport policy', journal of Social Policy pp 579-600. Nicholson, M. & Hoye, R. -2008- 'Sport and societal capital' Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann p68, 69 Stewart, B., 'Nicholson, & Westerbeek, H. -2004- "Australian Sport, Improved by plan The progress of Australian hobby policy" London, Routledge p45 Torkildsen, G. -2004- 'Leisure and leisure administration' London, E & F Spon p32 Thomas, A. -2003- 'what makes progress administration' Journal of International Development, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp 9-17. Read More