Individual Outdoor Sports - Essay Example

? “Individual Outdoor Sports” Individual Outdoor Sport- Motocross Executive Summary: Motocross is a form of bike racing which emerged in the early 20th century in the United Kingdom. Later on this sport gave rise to other similar sports as well such as freestyle, supermoto, super cross, side cars, etc. It is a highly dangerous sport and the injuries occurring during practice sessions or on the performance day might lead to fatal consequences. Despite this fact, motocross is gaining popularity among the masses and different countries are making huge investments in order to develop the skills and performance level of the participants. Many world tournaments of motocross are arranged throughout the year; the famous ones are: FIM Motocross world championship, AMA motocross championship, British motocross championship etc. Our research findings are that Scotland is taking a great interest in this sport hence making huge investment to build up new and improved tracks in the country. In the mid-20th century this Sport was very popular in Scotland but later due to socio-economic reasons it lost its fame. Research shows that the attitude and behavior of the participants plays a significant role in their success as motocross champions because it is a very physical and dangerous sport and it requires a lot of physical activity, therefore it is essential for the participants to keep their focus on practice and performance by maintaining discipline, confidence, responsibility and overall positive attitude. It is recommended to the facility managers and providers to take certain actions and measures in order to develop motocross. There is significantly less participation of females in this particular sport due to the lack of facilities and encouragement. The sport managers should turn their focus to that side as well. Introduction: The Auto-Cycle club and the Scottish Six Days Trial in 1906 and 1909 led to the evolution of Motocross in the United Kingdom. It was previously known as scrambles racing. It is a form of motor cycle racing and held in off road circuits in all weather conditions. This individual outdoor sport requires a lot of physical exercise (Sports England, 2012). Though this sport was originated in United Kingdom, it has very strong roots in Scotland as well. Initially, the bikes used for this sport were different from the street bikes, and as the sport gained popularity among the masses, significant changes were made to the structure of the bikes. The major competitions of the Motocross include FIM Motocross world championship which is held in Europe and different events of this competition take place in North America, South America, Asia, etc. Another competition is AMA Motocross championship which is held in United States from May to September. Motocross destination are held in different countries every year including United States, Belgium and Britain. British Motocross championship is held in the United Kingdom only. Motocross has given rise to other similar sports such as Freestyle, which includes aerobatic stunts, Supermoto, which is motorcycle racing on the tracks, A TV/Quad Motocross, which is a form of bike racing in mud. In this report we are going to cover the participants’ profile of motocross from different aspects and its implications. Participation Profile: It comes under the category of extreme sports where broken bones and fatal injuries are common. However the participants consciously ignore the danger attached to the sport. It is hard for the riders and families to cope with the strange routine that the motocross demands. Sometimes these riders have to travel far and wide without their wife and children. Motocross is a very famous sport in United Kingdom and Scotland. Various companies encourage the practice and performance of this sport in these countries. Scotland supports the outdoor games as they are big sources of income for its residents. It has planned to build 200,000 six track motocross facility for adults as well as children (RAY CHUSS). It requires a lot of training to become a successful dirt bike participant. Number: there are a number of people found around the track but only few of them are actually racing whereas the rest are their family members and friends comforting them and encouraging them to win. However the actual number of participants varies. It depends on the registration and arrivals for practice and training. The more the participant practices the better chances of getting in to the competition he has. Usually there are 40 gates. As the motocross is gaining its popularity among the masses it has become obvious that in the upcoming years the number of participants may increase. Another reason for this increase is that the young people are showing more inclination towards dangerous sports such as motocross or dirt biking (Sports Scotland, 2012). Percentage: America has the highest percentage of participants i.e. 58% share of the total market because it can better train its participants and there are many off road tracks available for the riders. Australia has 10% of the market share and the rest is divided among Britain, Scotland and England. Age: children from the age 4 onwards can start racing. As they grew older they become more and more professional in the field. The riders keep on facing the danger of motocross as far as their bodies and injuries allow them. Gender: the dominating gender in this sport is male. A significant percentage of male participants are seen in the contests every year. However women participants are also present but they are not that successful as far as motocross is concerned. Below is a bar chart given with the assumed values to analyze the number of male and female participants in Motocross. Socio economic group: the participants belong to a stable socio economic group. As they need to travel far and wide, they should have enough money to keep the life going before they gain popularity or win any contest. In Scotland alone the cyclists coming for practice or contests spend around 20 million. Ethnic background: to become successful in this field the participants need positive attributes such as discipline, concentration, responsibility and confidence. At first the dirt biking seems very easy and interesting but to excel in this art one needs to do practice on a continuous basis with high discipline which is the core essence of the whole idea. They need to have the will power necessary to win the contests. The participants need to have remarkable attention power through which they can successfully concentrate on the competitors as well as their own abilities. The attention ability has to be improved by the continuous exercise and expertise. The motor bike riders need to be dependable and reliable so that they can represent their group or even themselves in a more appropriate manner. The more the participants practice the better confidence level they achieve. Seasonal variation: the best season to do practice and improve the performance is from April to September. Although motocross is not affected by the weather and seasonal conditions, some variation is seen in these months. Club membership: there are several clubs throughout England, America, Scotland, etc. that provide tracks, equipment, training and a lot of other facilities to their members. For instance Duns Motocross track is one of the best facilities providers in Scotland. Emerging trends in Motocross: this unique sport which initially emerged in United Kingdom has given rise to other emerging trends such as freestyle, sidecars, pit bikes and mini motocross, super cross and Supermoto. Barriers: there are many factors that stop the participants from practicing and training. Some of them are the internal factors while others are of external nature. Internal factors may include lack of confidence or over confidence, initial fears, physical disabilities or sensitivities to certain atmospheres and environments because motocross is something that requires a lot of physical exercise. Motivation is another factor that acts as a barrier. Sometimes these participants are not encouraged by the family members or the society itself. External factors may include lack of family support, lack of finances, socio economic problems, few or no tracks available in the country and many more. PESTEL Analysis Why Scotland is providing more facilities to the participants as compared to other countries? The motocross is gaining popularity in the whole world but in Scotland it has shown a downward trend in the last 60 years. In 1950 there were 30 motocross tracks available in Scotland which reduced to 11 in the last decades. Therefore the Scottish government has realized the intense need for providing better facilities to the participants and is encouraging training courses throughout the country, whereas other countries such as Britain, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, etc. already have a huge market share from the global motocross market and so currently they do not require making much effort in this field. However as the time goes on chances are that Scotland would become the World champion in motocross due to its steady efforts in this particular sport and the ever increasing number of participants. Comment on the quality of data: Motocross is a comparatively new sport and it has a long way to go to achieve its peak and therefore there is not much information available on the internet about motocross. But since it is an emerging sport and gaining popularity among the masses, some bottom line information can be obtained through the websites. Most of the information is taken from the sportscotland.org, hubpages.com, wiki.answers.com and moto.mpora.com. These websites have collected data from: The Guinness book of motorcycling facts and feats, Guinness Superlatives, http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/museum/exhibits/mx/history.asp,Books.Google.com.July1977 and many others. The data have been presented at only one moment in time i.e. just here and now. There are possibilities of some minor errors in the data representation because of the same reasons mentioned above i.e. the online websites do not have much information related to the topic so a few things are hypothesized, which nonetheless are believed to be very near to the reality. Implications for leisure provider: The information presented in this report is very useful for all the upcoming riders and participants. These participants can get a clear idea of what they want to achieve out of this highly dangerous sport. There are certain attributes required by these participants to be successful in this field such as confidence, discipline, motivation, physical abilities, sense of responsibility, etc. Motocross is fast gaining popularity in the world although it is a highly unsafe and dangerous sport which can lead to fatal consequences. This report may also be used by the training providers and the upcoming companies who want to start a new business in the sports sector (Woods, 2008). As a facility manager and planner: the facility managers throughout the world need to give a close attention to this upcoming sport. More tracks should be made for participants and they should also be given more and more expert advice. The champions of motocross should try to give their expert opinions to the upcoming generation. The participant’s routine, habits and attributes should be molded according to the requirements. The facility providers should take very good care of the participant's physical health and other related issues. As a sport development officer: people are showing much interest in motocross so the sport development authorities should focus on organizing more and more competitions throughout the world. They should try to locate the countries and places where there is a huge demand on motocross. Presently the sport development authorities are not playing their full role in the development of motocross but it is believed after seeing the upward popularity trend of the sport that sooner or later these officers will realize their responsibilities (Maddox & Tiffany, 2008). Scotland has shown much progress as far as motocross is concerned. The Scotland sport’s associations are making new and improved tracks for the participants which will not only provide them will excessive facilities, expert’s guidance and solution to their problems but also everlasting training experience which will reform the attitude of the participants to that of champions of motocross. A lot of room is available for the development of women motocross participants. Scotland should also try to focus on them which will definitely increase the overall percentage of participants. Reference List: Maddox, J., & Tiffanty, S. (2008). Motocross double-cross. Stone Arch Books, Minneapolis. Sports England. (2012). MotoCross. Available: http://www.sportengland.org/ . Last accessed 31 OCt 2012. Sports Scotland. (2012). Motocross Sports. Available: http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/ChannelNavigation/Resources/TopicNavigation/Collections/Participation+research.htm. Last accessed 27th Oct 2012.Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Woods, B. (2008). Motocross history: from local scrambling to world championship MX to freestyle. St. Catharines, ON, Crabtree Pub. Bottom of Form Read More