International Activities and Sporting Events in the United Kingdom: Success in Making the Achievement - Research Paper Example

 United Kingdom has put itself on the sporting world as the home of talents. It has enjoyed success in different sporting activities like football, rugby, table tennis, golf and athletics. This success has majorly been associated with the upper class (De Bosscher et al, 2009). However, this may not be much surprising when several factors are put into perspective. Below are some of the reasons to support it: High level performance requires a lot of investment (Green, 2012). This may be in terms of facilities, finance and commitment. The success of individuals will majorly revolve around these factors. In order to achieve all these, one needs to have resources (Sports Coach, 2007). The resources will enable them acquire good coaching staff and necessary training facilities which will in turn translate into success depending on the commitment of the sportsperson in question (Houlihan, 2007). It is undisputable that individuals in the upper class have necessary resources to achieve all these. With the kind of financial muscles they command, they have always offered their children and themselves the best available sporting facility in whichever field of sport they choose. This has always made it easier to succeed. They have the ability to organize private training for themselves even if it takes moving a broad to achieve the highest level of fitness that can propel them into success (Holt, 2009). The elite can also sponsor themselves to private sporting events. This increases their experience as it presents them an opportunity to assess themselves and take necessary corrective measures. Such engagements place them miles above their compatriots from other classes (Spracklen et al, 2011). It should be appreciated that these other section of the society may barely afford to cope with the resource demand. They majorly rely on public resources to achieve their sporting dreams (Polley, 2012). The public resources may not be fully satisfactory in terms of sporting needs of sportspersons. This satisfaction eliminates several impediments of success thus making its achievement a reality but not a mere obsession. The United Kingdom has brought forth a range of sporting activities that mostly earned international recognition both in the past and present (Holt, 2009). The United Kingdom shines in a number of international activities and sporting events. These sports include; field events like the association football, cricket, rugby football, baseball, hockey, tennis, and golf. There are also a number of in-door sports in which United Kingdom has made a name. These sports include; table tennis, squash, and boxing. There is a very rich history behind sports in the United Kingdom. This history cuts across the sporting activities in all the countries that make up United Kingdom. With many sports bodies in the individual countries in the 19th century, there was disunity of sports across the UK. Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England formed the earliest independent governing bodies. In the early 20th century, there was formation of some separate sports governing body by Northern Ireland that governs its home sports. It is also worth noting that the home nations are represented separately in different sporting events like football, rugby, cricket etc. However, when it comes to Olympics the nations rally their sporting troops to represent United Kingdom. The individual nations are represented in Commonwealth games with Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England fielding their individual participants in these games (Sports Coach, 2012). This has however not earned much success that could be expected from these nations. The success enjoyed by the individual nations has been limited with England being the most successful in sports like football and rugby. This success though has not only been limited to England as other nations have also enjoyed it sparingly. Scotland and Wales have been successful in sporting activities like rugby therein earning international recognition as individual nations. When these nations have combined forces to represent as a single body under the custodianship of United Kingdom, there has been much success in return. This success has been witnessed in Olympics games where United Kingdom or the Great Britain has always been among the top performers in the final standings. United Kingdom has won several Gold Medals in the Olympics since the invention of the games. Elite Sports Culture in the United Kingdom Elite sports have undergone a series of transformation over the last forty years. There has been success in the transformation of the elite sports from an amateur into professional game. The improvements have been brought about by the introduction of various organs and sports bodies charged with the responsibilities of ensuring particular sports become successful (Theodoraki, 2010). There are several bodies responsible for the administration of sports in the United Kingdom. Changes have come together with the desired results. These bodies conform to the sporting culture that has existed and which the sporting activities have followed. This culture borrows from time memorial with the sports being a serious source of income to many people living in the United Kingdom. Many depend on sports for a living either directly or indirectly. That not withstanding, we take a look at the culture of elite sports in the United Kingdom. This culture has some empirical issues surrounding the development of sports especially the highly popular sports like rugby, football and athletics (Green et all, 2013). This literature review focuses on the structure of the sports both socially and theoretically. There evolution of sports in the UK has been through various sports academies from which a pool of young talents are picked to train with the professional group of players for that they could add a new taste of their own kind into the sport. It’s therefore paramount to look into the sport from the development in order to have an in-depth understanding of the culture of sports in the United Kingdom. Elite Sports Academies in the United Kingdom Case study: rugby With respect to the sports theory in the UK, we look at the existing literature of the academies of elite sports. We take focus on the youth development in the elite sports academies across the United Kingdom. Both rugby and football have been outstanding in youth development in this great nation. With rugby as a casing point in the youth development of rugby players, we look at the culture of elite sports academies in the UK. In the year 1995 the English Rugby Union got a formal shift of its amateur rugby into a professional rugby (Spracklen, 2010). This shift was initiated by International Rugby Board. This change serious impacted on the culture of rugby as game. It also had significant impact on the structure of the game. Initially the Rugby Football Union, RFU was charged with the responsibility of implementing the amateur rugby. This thus resulted to lots of problems in the implementation of this change. This change initiated a transition of amateur rugby into a professionally recognized sport. The professional status of the clubs caused a lot of trouble as the clubs who wished to adopt the transition into professionalism did not welcome the negotiations easily (Holt, 2009). Before, these clubs operated as amateur sports organizations. There was then need for the clubs to move towards being corporate entities with commercial orientation and professional staffing. This was due to the International Rugby Board taking an initiative of repealing its regulations that banned professionalism. With clubs now shifting to professional entities, there were major effects of this change that include; the change in club ownership, the increased financial demands to run the clubs, there were much dependencies on the media to support the clubs in terms of game publicity and popularization. The wind of change also affected the attitude and aspect of viewing the rugby players. The attitude shifted to a more positive aspect with players now being viewed as assets to the clubs thus changing the ethos of rugby game. There were new demands to the professional rugby that required the alteration of rugby ownership and organizational structures (Sports Coach, 2007). This forced the rugby administration to make considerations regarding financial issues. This in turn resulted in wide focus of the game in terms of financial needs and playing. There were as well cultural and structural consequences that arose from incorporation of professionalism into the rugby football. This is mainly the time when academy institutions were formed. The academy institutions are charged with the responsibility of nurturing young talents that were eligible to the signing of professional contracts with the Premiership clubs (Green et all, 2013). These players were then required to represent the English National sides that composed of the under 16 up to under 24. This has been the trend since the year 2001. There came the establishment of rugby academies that expected to give opportunities the young talents to advance to the professional status and represent the national sides at different capacity. This enabled the development of full international players that were now able to competently represent their respective national sides at various international competitions. Regional academies were then developed and integrated into the Rugby Football Union’s development and performance pathway. The young athletes received management of lifestyle and a game sense coupled with training skills according to the Rugby Football Union’s development program skills (Green, 2012). This transformations helped rugby become one of the most performing sports in the United Kingdom. There have been a number of professional sportspersons that have broken into the world arena while representing the national sides in rugby during international games. This has made United Kingdom amongst the outstanding performers in the game with the English team even wining the Rugby World Cup in the year 2007 in national sevens aside. Nations like Wales and Scotland have also showcased great talents in the international arena and put great performances at different capacities in the game. Ireland has also not been left behind as they have also made to the competition arena and performed in an outstanding way. The UK has been represented by the individual nations to the levels of restoring the pride of their fans and thus drawing them to love the game more and more. The nations have been hard to play against both in the 15s aside and 7s aside. Just like rugby, there are also many elite sports in the United Kingdom that has also been very successful (Theodoraki, 2010). Some have been due to the individual efforts put by the sportspersons themselves. This includes athletics events like field and track events which have produced individuals who have been outstanding. Football has also been one of the success stories in the United Kingdom with the individual nations England and Ireland representing it in the Euro games. England has represented the United Kingdom at the individual capacity in virtually all world cup competitions in the last 40 years. The development of football has been very outstanding especially in England with the local league competition being said to be the best in the world. There was a crop of players then referred to as the “golden generation” coming up in the last two decades (Green, 2012). These included a group of football stars who ply their trades in the local league and abroad. The group of players has represented England in the world cup and even reaching the advanced stages of the competition. The likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and many others have been very instrumental in the development of the game in the last decade. The likes of Mo Farah have been the latest emerging talents in the United Kingdom. He earned himself international recognition by winning the London Olympic double in 5000m and 10000m in the most emphatic way. The last forty years have seen many athletes emerge. The stars have emerged in boxing, tennis, golf and sprints. Rory McIlroy as become a very successful golfer from Northern Ireland by winning several golf competitions thus putting his name in the international map. The likes of Andy Murray have also made a name for themselves by winning several tennis championships including the British Open. These are just a few individuals amongst many who are been a success story of the elite sports. However, elite sports have much been an activity of the upper class. There are very many factors that havce caused this. Barriers to elite sports success in other social classes In the last forty years, elite sports have undergone numerous transformations that have often brought positive results and overall improvements. The above discussed success cases have often been associated with a certain class of individuals. This sport has since been branded a game of upper class especially with the kind of financial muscles involved. There has been much money gotten in the elite sports that make it appear to be a game of the upper class. There are various barriers to the success of the elite sport in the other social classes like the middle and the lower classes. Below, we take a look at various barriers that have hindered sports success in these classes. Insufficient Finances Nurturing talents require finances (Green, 2012). This is because in order for one to get the kind of training that they need, there should be adequate training facilities. These facilities require a lot of money. It is important to note that the facilitation of a good talent nurturing requires good money. The amounts of money required in this case may be beyond the financial capability of the lower and the middle class (Green et all, 2013). For instance, nurturing a sporting talent requires facilities like gymnasium. Using a public gymnasium may at times inconvenience the person in question. This therefore requires that one gets either sponsorship to be able to easily go about the hefty financial demands of the elite sport. It is true that elite sport pays well. But, it is also true that for one to be able to match the standards of elite sports, serious investments are required. This may pose a great challenge to the lower and middle class individuals with sporting ambitions thus killing their dreams. There are a number of persons from the lower and middle class who have made it to the elite sporting arena. But, most of these individuals got some support from either sports promoters or the government. This enabled them join elite sports academies thus get the necessary training under good coaches that enabled them reach the standards of the elite competitions. It is therefore important to cope with the financial challenges in order to make it to the elite arena. Poor grassroots support The growth of talents is a systematic process that requires a series of processes in order to get and bring the best out of an individual with regard to sports (Shibli et al, 2010). The process of nurturing talents starts with the identification of talents from the grassroots. It is definite that every talent starts at the lowest possible stage in the society. Little efforts have been put to tap these grassroots talents. When the talents are identified in an appropriate manner, the right group of talents is gathered that will then produce a good crop of talented individuals. The government has put little efforts in promoting the sports in the grassroots (Sports Coach, 2007). This makes those who cannot take their children to the sports academies which have since become very expensive to have their children’s talents diminish without much help. This is especially common with the lower and middle classes which may lack the financial power to achieve that. The affordability of the sports academies is mainly limited to the upper class. There is therefore needful to make everybody get equal opportunities in terms of access to the resources. Ways of overcoming the barriers There is need for the elite sports to be viewed and be open to all classes of the society in the United Kingdom. Doing this requires elimination of the barriers which are the main impediments to the success of the elite sport. The following can help overcome these barriers. Financial support One of the main barriers to the elite sports development in the lower and middle classes is insufficient finance (Glyptis et all, 2009). The government of the United Kingdom should therefore make it a priority to give the necessary financial support to the talented individuals who are not able to nurture their talents due to lack of finance. When these people get such support, they stand a better chance of developing their talents. Supporting and supporting grassroots talents Financially poor and average class of individuals do not get the opportunities to showcase the talents on the bigger sporting stages like their counterparts form the upper class who have the financial muscles that can help them afford anything the want. It is therefore important to expose these talents to the sporting environments enjoyed by the others. The government should therefore have good initiatives of improving the grassroots talents (Green, 2012). This can only be done through promotion of sports activities in the grassroots which will lead to identifying the outstanding talents which may perish as a result of poor or no support. They can then be developed to ensure there is balance in the sports classes. References De Bosscher, V., De Knop, P., Van Bottenburg, M., Shibli, S., & Bingham, J. 2009. Explaining international sporting success: An international comparison of elite sport systems and policies in six countries. 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