Development of Sports - Assignment Example

Running Head: DEVELOPMENT OF SPORTS By Presented to Due Section One Sports have evolved immensely from the ancient times to the 20th century. One of the significant forms of evolution is the incorporation of technology into sports. According to David Boor, technology is on an all time rise in the inclusion of its use in sports. Boor states that the primary growth in sports technology is the use of computers and mobile devices. These devices have increased accessibility to a person’s sport of choice by providing instant digital access, where one may view their sport in the comfort of their homes as compared to the ancient days, where for one to see sports one would have to attend the venue of the game itself (Boor, 2015). Computers and portable mobile devices have also decreased the cost the cost that one must incur when one goes to view their sport in the stadiums or places like coliseums in the ancient days. According to U.S Sports Academy, one may also measure and collect accurate data in sports like athletics, where technology has enabled the measurement and collection of specific quantitative data that helps in calculation and comparison of variables such as the speed of the athletes. According to the U.S Sports Academy, technology has enabled the development of new competitive and recreational sports, with multi-sport competitions of the likes of X-Games, that includes events such as roller boarding, mountain biking, snowboarding and in-line roller skating. The U.S Sports Academy continues to mention the involvement of technology in facility design, with the introduction of equipment that make the judging of competitions and the compiling of results easier and more accurate. The U.S Sports Academy also mentions how technology has enabled the building and maintenance of better building finishes that considerably extend a facility’s life. Sports have also considerably changed in terms of architecture. According to, Lev Kreft, building in sports has significantly improved with the standardization of sporting facilities such as the sizes of playgrounds of the various sports, where the facilities are standardized to ensure that the sport is plaid in a standard manner all over the world. Sports authorities determine the standard shapes of sports playgrounds. The rules of sports architecture are seen to go way beyond just the measurements of the playgrounds and include the determination of the number of seats, the comfort of all the forms of people in the playground which range from the general audience to the judges, athletes and journalists and the accessibility of facilities to all the people occupying the playgrounds. Lev Kreft continues to mention that all sports are under the global authority with the power to standardize sports rules, and those sports that are not under the global authority were considered as not to be members of “the family” in this case the family meaning the universal authority. The advancement of medicine in sports is also a key way in which sports has changed. According to Roald Bahr, the field of medicine in sports has changed immensely, with medicine focusing on two main areas, which are the health problems associated with sports and the physical activity of the participants, and the health benefits of regular physical activity. Each sport nowadays has their medical practitioner that is particularly well versed in the two areas of focus mentioned above, who are trained specifically in the forthcomings of that sport. These medical practitioners focus highly on the physique of the participants and ensure that they are in almost perfect health at all times. Section Two Leftist Theory According to Donald L. Deardorff, Leftist theory of sports entails that communism as an ideology inevitably links sports with work, which led to sports workers who labor in service of the state. This means that many associations have been formed that provide employment to workers who work on behalf of sports but are not athletes. The advancement of technology in sports took place based on the leftist theory, in ways such providing employment to network airing organizations such as super sport of the DSTV who have adversely provided employment to people like journalists, sports commentators, and advertising agencies, who work around the clock in order to provide constant news, sports proceedings, sports fixtures and sports results of a diverse number of types of sports ranging from football, rugby, cricket and Formula one. Leftist theory is also associated with the provision of labor to the workers of sports playgrounds and facilities, starting from the building of the playground where we have construction workers who work for sports but they are not athletes in any of the sports. Architecture as a form of advancement and development of sports has also provided labor to workers who work in the completed sports facilities and playgrounds possibly as the cleaning crew, janitors, and even at the food stands of sporting facilities where the audience gets their refreshments. The provision of medical practice in sports is also a major benefactor of the Leftist theory of sports. Different kinds of sports have led to medical practitioners studying medicine related to the different types of injuries associated with the different kinds of sports. For instance, the injuries acquired while playing rugby are in no way related to the injuries received while swimming. Sports medical practitioners have had to undergo very specific medical training so as to specialize in the injuries of a particular sport. Hegemony Theory According to William John Morgan, The Hegemony theory of sports entails the process in which dominant positions are maintained by its dominant cultures where institutions are used to formalize power, where the employment of a bureaucracy to ensure that power was not attached to any one individual, and the inclusion of the population of a particular state in the formation of the ideals of a sport through advertising, education and publication. Organizations have been structured all over the world with the aim of having a centralized system of the governorship of sports. An example of these organizations is the Federal Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which is the body governing football all over the world. FIFA association guides and sets the rules that control and regulate how football is played all over the world. Using FIFA organization as an example, technology as a development of sports using the Hegemony theory can be seen where FIFA Association has standardized the rules and regulations of sports by using technology to monitor all forms of sports proceedings, including the monitoring of the rules followed while playing football, the calculation of team and individual player statistics. The Hegemony theory has also been incorporated into the architecture of sports as all playgrounds and facilities have been standardized worldwide in accordance with the type of sport that is being played, by regulating the size of the playgrounds, the number of audience and official’s seats in the playground and the mode or form in which the playground should be built . The associations have also been seen to employ medical practitioners and personnel who have been specifically trained and educated in the different fields of sports so as to cater to the specific medical needs of the participants of the sport. Section 3 The theories of sports development named above both have weaknesses and strengths associated with the changes in sports. According to the William John Morgan, the advantages of the Hegemony theory of sports is owed to factors such as the dominant class which forms the associations that govern and control sports have superior resources and have tactical advantages in marshalling those advantages. This is of very great help in sports as these resources majorly contribute to the betterment of sports. Another factor is that the ruling class mediums of incorporation in the society, making it able to, for example, to bind learning mechanisms to a select scope of class-inspired meanings and values in education. The last advantageous factor is that the formation of associations due to the Hegemony theory enables the setting of terms and initiates the context within which any negotiation can and will occur with the underclass. Morgan continues to state that as much considerable as the Hegemony theory may be, the dominant class cannot always be the only association to deal with these factors and that interclass negotiation is paramount and should be continuously altered, limited, renewed and changed. Leftist theory of sports has quite the number of advantages. According to Tim Chapin, the incorporation of labor into sports has a great impact on the economy. The allocation of labor or better yet the provision of employment opportunities created by new sports facilities show a sign of progress, with the high number of employees that are employed in the high number of stadia and arenas. This improves the standards of living of people all over the world as employment provides the means to an end. Labor is not only encompassed in stadia and arenas but also in all forms of associations, organizations, advertising facilities, processing industries, manufacturing industries, medical services, vendors of sports jerseys and designers of sports jerseys. Sports have also been majorly incorporated in the endorsing of major companies by famous sports participants, where the likes of Rory Mcllroy who has been endorsed by Nike company to the tune of $250 million on a 10year sponsorship deal, both benefits himself, the Nike company and his managing organization, according to Tom Fordyce. The building of different sports facilities also has an enormous impact on surrounding community as the stadia attract new participants who would want to join in sports either as a form of leisure or as a form of career as many people forego opportunities in their sport carriers due to inadequate exposure and lack of the proper facilities to undertake the sport. With all that has been mentioned above, it is safe to say that for sports to fully develop in the current world it would be better to incorporate both the Leftist theory and the Hegemony theory as both methods impact considerably on the development of sports in the world. For sports to develop fully, it requires both proper management and good working structures and facilities which means that both theories of sports development have to be incorporated. In conclusion, Leftist theory of the development of sports is more important, as the Hegemony theory of development cannot exist without the Leftist theory of development. Reference List Academy, U. S., 2008. Sports Equipment and Technology. [Online] Available at: thesportjournal.org/article/sports-equipment-and-technology [Accessed 27 April 2015]. Bahr, R., 2001. Sports Medicine. [Online] Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1120932/ [Accessed 27 April 2015]. Boor, D., 2015. Coach-Plus. [Online] Available at: coach-plus.com/from-limitations-to-limitless-the-evolution-of-sports-technology/ [Accessed 27 April 2015]. Chapin, T., 2002. Identifying the Real Costs and Benefits of Sports Facilities, Cambridge: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Deardorff, D. L., 2000. Sports: A Reference Guide and Critical Commentary, 1980-1999. English ed. Westport, Conn. [u.a]: Greenwood Press. Fordyce, T., 2013. BBC SPort Golg. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/golf/21018786 [Accessed 27 April 2015]. Kreft, L., 2012. Architecture Through Sport. 01 August, pp. 179-180. Morgan, W. J., 1994. Leftist Theories of Sports: A Critique and Reconstruction. English ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Bramham, P., 2006. Sports Development: Policy and Practice. Florence, Kentucky: Routledge. Cashmore, E., 2003. Sports Culture: An A-Z Guide. Florence, Kentucky: Taylor & Francis. Word Count 1716 words. Read More