BASIC CONCEPT

OF

SPORT

Ma. Katryn T. Calumpang

SPORT

• part of the civilized societies through out history

• Greece in the 5th century B.C. –

sport was the central importance

to the culture

• Middle Ages – sport was officially frowned on

but still enjoyed by the common people in

villages and towns.

• Roman Empire –

athletes formed a strong

labor union for higher

fees and prizes

• Early America -

sports flourished

in different forms

Sport – The Natural Religion

Sport is a natural religion and

that we must understand it as

such to grasp its fundamental

importance. Michael Novak (1970)

How is Sport a Religion?

Sport is organized and dramatized in a religious way

• Rituals Toss coin, opening lineups etc.

Vestments

Costumes

Figure who enforce rules

and mete out punishments

Referees

• Religion teaches

perseverance, courage

and sacrifice

Sport if taught well,

teaches perseverance,

courage and sacrifice

• sense of powers that

are outside one’s control

the ball bounces to the left etc.

Saints

Heroes and Heroines

Believing in sport does not preclude being

Christian, Jewish or Muslim

Sport, like religion, can be intensely personal,

yet, in its fullest sense, it is communal

For or by a group rather than individuals

Sports provides humans

with the greatest

opportunity to achieve

human excellence and it is

that striving for excellence

that he sees the best of

sport. (Paul Weiss 1969)

Sport creates conditions

within which people test

themselves and find out

a great deal about who

they are in moments of

self-revelation during

competition.

(Eleanor Metheny 1970)

• Sport has the power to teach

• Sport is not necessarily a

force for good, but it is

indeed a force

(Wilfred Sheed 1995)

A powerful force that it not only tells

you much about yourself as an

individual but also reveals a great

deal about the society within which

sport is pursued.

Four Related Concepts:

• Leisure

• Play

• Games

• Competition

Leisure:

• an attitude of freedom or release from the

demands of ordinary life

• an activity shifts the focus

from the person to the event

and those who are

responsible for providing

services the event represents

• traditionally been the

discretionary time left over

after work, family, and

personal maintenance

commitments are handled

Leisure attitude, leisure activities, and leisure time

are often thought to be related to play – that is a

playful attitude, play activities, and play time.

Play: Sports a Form of Play

• sport is a manifestation

of play

• play is a motivating

impulse underlying the

development of drama,

art, music.

It is a free activity standing quite consciously

outside “ordinary” life as being “not serious,” but at

the same time absorbing the player intensely and

utterly. (Johan Huizinga)

Characteristics of Play

(Sociologist Roger Caillois 1961)

• free

• Separate

• Uncertain

• Unproductive

• Governed by rules or by make-believe

1. Free – sport is most playful when people

either into it voluntarily

2. Separate – Sport conduct in places where the

time and space limits are fixed in advance.

3. Uncertain – Sport is most playful when it is

uncertain, when the contestants in a competition are

evenly matched.

4. Economically unproductive – Activity is most

playful when it does not result in any new

wealth being created (opposed to work)

5. Governed by rules – Play is almost always

regulated, these rules standardizes the competition

6. Governed by make-believe – Play that is not

rule governed dominated by make-believe

Play: Child’s Play and Adult Play

• play is the most basic

form of behavior in

young children

• through play, children acquire

much of their early knowledge

about the physical and social

world in which they live

• adults play: calculation,

subordination to rules,

contrivance, and ritual

• children’s play: turbulence,

gaiety, spontaneous,

diversion

Games:

• any form of playful competition whose outcome is

determined by physical skill, strategy or chance employed

singly or in a combination

1. Games derive from play

3 Important parts:

2. Games involve competition

3. The outcome of the game is determined by use

of physical skill, strategy, or chance.

• Games that have

outcomes determined

primarily by chance –

(dice) – are not sports

• Games that involve strong

elements of strategy but

involve no physical skill are

not sport, e.g. bridge, chess,

and other board games

1. Primarily Rules – Each sport game is different

because each game poses a problem to be

solved.

2. Secondary Rules – defines the institutionalized

form of the game or what we might called the

parent game.

• Can be altered or modified

Classification of Games:

1. Territory or invasion games –

defined by the problem of needing

to invade the space of the

opponent to score

2 Types:

1. Goals are used (basketball,

soccer etc.)

2. Lines are used ( Rugby etc.)

2. Target games – the primary rules of propelling

objects with great accuracy toward the targets

2 Types:

1. Directly opposed

2. Indirectly opposed

4. Field Games – primary rules

that require one opponent to

strike an object such as to

elder defenders on the field

3. Court Games – an object

is strategically propelled

in ways cannot be

returned by the opponent

Competition in Sports and Games

Competition – a rivalry in

which opponents strive

to gain something at the

expense of each other

3 related meanings of the concept:

1. To come together

2. To strive to achieve an objective

3. To be is a state of rivalry

The Institutionalization of Sport

• Rules were suggested, someone thought of a

new game to play, the goal of the game was

explained, equipment was probably assigned

and special space was acquired.

The Codification of Rules:

• the rules governing the sport are codified

• defined primarily by the

rules and secondarily by the

traditions that develop within

the sport as it becomes

institutionalized.

The Role of the Referee:

It is to ensure fairness

by seeing that all

contestants honor the

rules and that no

contestants get an

advantage that is

disallowed by the rule.

The Genesis of Sport Organizations:

• the forming of sports organizations

Importance of Records:

• provide standards against

which participants measure

their improvement and set

goals.

• provide great items of great interest to those who

follow the sport but do not necessarily participate in it.

• primary motivation: increased competence and

getting better

The Public Nature of Institutionalized Sport:

• the public role becomes

part of the culture

• the facet of institutionalized

sport that is responsible for

sport journalism, sport

broadcasting, and sport

literature

Sport Spectating

• most frequently mentioned leisure time activities

• sport spectator is not just a fan

• often a

sophisticated,

knowledgeable, and

appreciative viewer

Sport Aesthetics

• sports and athletes have always been subjects for art

• to understand aesthetic

in sports, we must find

beauty in sport rather

than in paintings

• the beauty of the art is found in the performance itself

Aesthetics of Form Sports

• the physical form of the performance

is the determining factor in the

competition – diving, gymnastics and

figure skating

• sport performances

are decided by a

judging system and the

judges look for

aesthetic qualities in the

performance

Aesthetic Quality of other Sports:

4 Beauty Present in Sports

1. The beauty of a well-developed

body in motion

2. The beauty of a brilliant play or a

perfectly executed maneuver.

3. The beauty in a dramatic

competition

4. The beauty in the unity of a

entire performance

Sport Ethics

• ethics or moral philosophy,

is concerned with how the

people ought to behave,

particularly in situations in

which there is potential for

behaving well or poorly

• most people believe deeply that

participation in sport builds character

Fair Play:

• concept of fair play

encompasses how a

sportsperson behaves not

only during a contest but

before

• a sport should be played fairly

and vigorously, with opponents

always honoring one and

another

Rules and Nature of Games:

• a competition should be viewed as a test among

opponents in which all have agreed what the test will be.

Sport cannot ultimately survive, if participants

regularly abuse the rules and conventions that define

the sport

THANK YOU!