Contemporary Issues in Modern Sport Environment - Term Paper Example

 Contemporary Issues in Modern Sport Environment United Kingdom is one of those countries which believe that sports are an essential part of life. The UK government has initiated programs, agencies, policies and other sources to increase the participations and enhance the facilities provided to sport lovers to a certain extent. These programs of the government also benefit the sports development officers to enhance their jobs. There are many supporting roles to this purpose which are played by the media, the education, the strategies and the overall government approach to the issue. The increased role of the government means that the increased participation of the sports development officer. A sports development officer in the UK benefits from the sports educational and fitness programs. These officers provide the sports lovers with the opportunities to increase participation in all types of sports for all age groups. They support the government programs by providing information, research and organizing the sports projects. People believe that playing sports is the best way to maintain a healthy body from a very early age. They believe that playing sports at the school or local level is the first step for any youngster towards competing at the higher levels which is a way to help the nation’s reputation and become a sporting nation. The major problem in UK lies in the fact that students play sports in schools as their Physical Training exercises but they often stop playing as soon as they leave school. People fulfilling their sports potentials are lesser, especially in girls. This may lead to an unhealthy lifestyle that people usually tend to adopt. The government lacks in providing the coaches and sports facilities to those who wish to play sports, not specifically on a high scale, but just to maintain their healthy lives (Smith, 2009, p. 122). People who leave sports after school or college are also because of the lack of government funding for sports activities. People with social and economic backgrounds are not able to continue playing sports as there are gyms and training centers that the rich class can afford, but not government institutions where lower class people can go. However, in recent years, the purpose of the agencies and organizations is to get more people towards sports even after they leave school despite their social or economic background (Watt, 2003, p. 84). These developing policies were related to the provision of facilities and security, and providing sports facilities across the country and in a widespread of areas. These are mentioned in the documents: Proofing for Sport and Active Recreation in Spatial Plans and Development Control Guidance Note. They believe there are policies that are aspired and delivered through the improvement in the sports sector and these are health benefits and the national economic viability. These policies also give a rise to the role of a sports development officer who develops and coordinates the programs, assists in the administration and support the schools. At regional and sub regional level, the policy sets out a section where the representation of sports interests, principles and objectives are set out. This is to ensure that sports development officers use the potentials of sports by the realization of direct aims. After this, a checklist is given which highlights the interests of sports and enables it to be incorporated in the regional policy which is to be made. It is important to promote the sports policies at regional and sub regional level so that all classes of people can benefit from them (Gardiner, 2006, p. 97). Sport England has created Sport and Spatial Planning document which seek to ensure that the sport interests and active recreation are represented well and they are promoted in an active and appropriate manner to develop in the interests of all by the sports development officer. Sport England is committed to the planning at regional and local level and plans to pursue a practical approach for the planning and to seek the involvement in the policy at regional and local scales. They are looking for opportunities to promote the sports interests through the means that are available to them, including the statutory and the non statutory measures. Sport England carried out the planning and approach through principles to provide how they seek to promote the sports interests through their planning system: environmental sustainability, community safety, local economic viability, improving quality of life and well being, improvement of health and a raise in standards in the schools. The government policies in regard to the sports facilities are gradually having an impact on all age groups of the society. These policies enable the younger and older people to carry out some extent of sports activities and physical exercise throughout their life cycle. Such strategies enable the sports development officers to organize programs that are beneficial to all age groups. The Game Plan strategy of the government to deliver sports activity objectives says that the government’s major aim to this strategy is to increase the level of sports participation in all levels of social groups. The aim is to ensure that all the members of the community receive at least the minimum level of physical activity to maintain their healthy living in the community (Bramham, 2007, p. 10). The government policies have an impact on these groups as they increase their participation and health benefits understanding their need for additional assistance. The young people that are aged up till the age of 11 are given a solid, strong and enjoyable experience of the sports activities, and this approach contributes to the sports literacy. Engaging children in sports is the best way to develop their sports skills and ensure a lifelong participation (Watt, 2003, p. 84). The government plans and strategies for the increased participation also increase the role and job of the sports development officers who get the chance to carry out more events and competitions. In the early stage, the children are given the choice of choosing enjoyable sports activities rather than involving them in competitions. The purpose of exposing young children to sports is to enhance their sports skills, provide them sports knowledge and build their habit of sports and physical exercise that would be useful throughout the life for healthy living. For the young people aged 11-16, sports facilities in their schools only is not enough. The government is doing the efforts to increase their participation in sports activities through developing Specialist Sports Colleges to make sports a part of their daily lives. The government highly focuses on the young age group when drafting their policies believing that these children are the future of the nation. Immense efforts and policies are made for these youngsters with sports interests and thus more talented sportsmen are coming up every day on national and international level. As observed, people aged from 16-24 have decreased participation rates in sports. For this age group the meaning of sports is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and thus less government funding are being made on this sector. However, there are certain emerging policies where the government institutions are trying to work on policies which increase the participation of middle aged people in sports. Older people have little or no participation in the sports or daily life exercises. Even though the government believes that there are great benefits to this age group if they increase participation such as preventing or delaying the signs of aging through strengthening the muscles, bones and joints, and improving balance, there is not much contribution of the sports centers for this age group. In accordance to the new policies drafted, the government believes that a keen focus should be made on this age group, and by the end of 20 years, the older population’s participation will increase dramatically as compared to present day. However the government policy implementation varies for each type of age group in terms of risk evaluation, cost effectiveness, expected outcomes and time management (Gardiner, 2006, p. 97). There is a widespread of media coverage in UK. The participation rate in those sports which are exposed and covered by media is higher than the participation in those sports which are not. There are entertainment programs which show live games and highlights. Informative documentaries are also shown and they inspire the sports lovers and give them opportunities to know more. Instructive programs including coaching series enhance the interests of those who want to participate. Educational programs are also shown in which students are assisted and inspired to adopt more sporting activities in their schools (Bramham, 2007, p. 10). On the other hand, football is seen throughout the media of UK at a higher rate than other sports. Public and private channels tend to show football matches, programs, documentaries and highlights at a higher rate than any other sports. This means that the promotion of football and the participation levels of football increase greatly as compared to other sports. Football greatly attracts the youth and is a sport which everyone loves to see. In UK it is a popular sport and thus more media coverage is given to football programs and government institutions open more football grounds and hire football professionals as coaches to train the youngsters. Moreover, private channels get more sponsors for airing football programs thus, they gain more popularity and interests (Green, 2005, p. 59). Thus, media also benefits the sports development officers greatly when they can air their own shows to encourage participation, skills and knowledge about sports. Events and competitions can be promoted through media channels where more and more people come to know about them. It was assessed by the government of UK that the sports participation is affected by the social inequalities in the society. These inequalities were about the lack of opportunity given to certain groups, lack of conditions and lack of capabilities. However, the recent research, present in the planning of the sports policies to increase equal participation, shows that sports participation and activities are helpful to support the social change. The government has taken up many strategies to increase the participation of the mass in sports. Huge investments are being made in accordance to the time management to reduce the risk as much as possible. Many programs allow the participants from a wide range of areas to get the opportunity to give trials and play with the national and international teams. The London Olympics were a major boost to the increase in participation especially in younger people. It inspired the young people to participate and follow their heroes. The increased facilities available for the professionals also allowed the talented players from across the country to avail the opportunity (Watt, 2003, p. 84). The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Social Exclusion Unit produced a document, Game Plan which was the government’s effort to present an analysis, statistics and comparative data for the sports performances and theories about sports value. The document also presented the government’s strategy, plan and vision for mass participation and enhanced performance by 2020. The policies also include the unity of the whole UK including Scotland and Whales to come together to increase participation and making sports a part of their daily life. This can also be seen evident from the sports literacy and skills provided to the children in schools since the very early age. As the government believes that providing the skill to the children at an early age would increase their participation and involvement in sports for a long term, they carry out educational and sports informatory programs to spread awareness to the schools and children (Hoye, 2012, p. 143). Although in many public schools there are already physical training exercises, sports facilities and services provided to the students, the government has also made new efforts in funding the sports departments of schools to increase participation. With more children participating at school and college level would mean more children playing sports for long term and throughout their lives. Providing sports education and skills has a major impact on the well being and healthy living of the society (Gardiner, 2006, p. 97). It has also been argued that the government funds lesser to initiate, maintain and fund the sports centers for the disabled children and adults who have interests in sports. Even though the tools and techniques for allowing the disabled to play sports have increased rapidly in the recent years, there is a lack of government boost in this sector. However, since the London Paralympics 2012, an opportunity has been created for the government to include the integration of disabled sports in the whole of their plans and strategies. Since then the participating opportunities for disabled have increased and a huge transformation has been seen. In addition, disabled students in schools are now playing competitive games along with their peers (King, 2012, p. 213). Sport England is making immense investments on the programs to help the disabled to overcome the barriers in participation. In the course of several years, this is the first time that such focus is made on the disabled sports. All the disability bodies come together and assist the government’s plans of giving disabled sports higher priority and strengthening the links between sports and wider groups of the community including disabled people (Bramham, 2007, p. 10). References Bramham P. 2007. Sports Development: Policy, Process and Practice. London: ‎Routledge Gardiner S. 2006. Sports Law. London: ‎Routledge Watt D. 2003. Sports Management and Administration. London: Routledge Smith A. 2009. Sport Policy and Development: An Introduction. UK: Taylor & Francis Green M. 2005. Elite Sport Development: Policy Learning and Political Priorities. London: Routledge Hoye R. 2012. Sport and Social Capital. London: Routledge King N. 2012. Sport Policy and Governance. London: Routledge Read More