Sports in the United States of America

In modern American society, Sports have occupied a central spot, and they have been incorporated into a popular subculture in the society. According to Fox, the sporting culture has formed the society, and simultaneously it has been influenced by numerous trends in the history of the country. In addition, sports activities promote the virtues of commitment, dedication, teamwork, respect, and honesty. The writers add that the sports go beyond the fields and into the lives of contributors such as the classroom environment, business world, and community. Therefore, sports activities serve an important part of the society as it helps in reducing crimes and teach valuable lessons, especially to the youth. Furthermore, sports bring members of the community together in ways that help strengthen the communities. Participation in sports is important as it helps an individual develop intellectually. Sports benefit the academic skills such as communication, reading, writing, and speaking skills.

Sports and Intellectualism

Sports and Academic Excellence

Sport have prominently sharpened the understanding of students in various classes. Students tend to interact through sports, and as a result they have time to share and discuss content learned in class in a more relaxed manner. Moreover, sports tends to relax the brain hence allowing the students to perform better in the subsequent classes. Most of these sports are performed by extremely talented individuals who not aspire to excel in sports but are compelled to study hard to improve their odds of world recognition. In most of the institutions, administrations have ensured compulsory sports session where all the students are expected to participate in the favourite games and shine (Biddle and Boutcher 80-54). Teachers have reported that inclusion of mandatory sports period has magnificently boosted students’ performance. Sports boost learners mood, attitude, and relieve stress which gives them a chance to excel in the studies.

Sports and Speaking skills

Sports is one of the few activities where participants cannot avoid interaction. Participants in every game have a tendency to interact, plan, talk, and design their winning tactics. As a result, all the students will have a chance not only to learn various speaking skills from others but also to share what they know and get corrected where they are wrong. The speaking skills range from facial expression, body movements, signs, gestures as well as verbal (Biddle and Boutcher 80-54). All these speaking skills are encountered in great magnitudes in all the games in the world. Slow learners get a chance to learn from the sharp students as the speaking is repeated often. Students suffering from some conditions such as mental retardation get a chance to learn better when interacting in sports. They sharpen both verbal and body language speaking abilities which in turn improves their academic performances.

Communication and Sports

Communication is a big factor in all sporting activities since no team or individual can prosper without communicating to the other members. Sports involve interaction with people from different sectors and cultures in the society and also constant talks with each other. Sports involve tasks such as remembering the names of other team members, giving and receiving compliments in the team sports such as soccer, and encouraging each other. Therefore, communication is an important skill that participants need to master and develop effectively. Team sports provide a perfect ground through which sports personnel are able to learn the skill of communication as they have to possess it in order to become an effective member of the team. These learned skills can be utilized in business, society, institutions, and organizations.

Reading and Writing in Sports

Sports are able to provide individuals with stimulating content area learning experiences that they may utilize to strengthen their thinking. Sports provide people with real experiences as they participate in sports as team members of spectators. The experiences help provide more background knowledge that is important in developing their level of content area reading skills. In addition, sports promote a sense of mastery, self-discipline, success, ambitious desires for achievement, assertiveness, aggressiveness, and independence that help a participant to develop in content area reading. These abilities help a reader develop the right reason to read and this motivates them to read more. The athletes also have to become creative in the fields for them to achieve in sports. Creativity helps one to focus and to improvise which is very important in writing and academic performance. Sporting activities discourage procrastination which helps improve self-discipline important for academic focus. Research has shown improvement in the moods of people involved in sports. The healthy mood is important as it promotes a healthy mind for reading and writing.

History of Sports in the United States

In the past century, sports have developed into an integral part of the American culture. Sports have had a long history all around the world. In the past American society, team sports were part of the Native American people. They were involved in various ball games that have transformed in the typical American sports today such as football, basketball, and baseball. According to Gorn & Goldstein (2013, p.49), the games arose from the first settlers in the region from Europe at around the 17th century. The new games underwent some refurbishment in the 19th century and are now the most popular sport in the country and far beyond the borders. Fox (2012) states that there are four major sporting leagues in the country which are National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL).

How the Culture as a Whole treat Sports

The American culture values sports as it means a sense of togetherness. Bowe and Hitt (2013, online) write that in society’s participation in the sports enhances unity through frequent meetings at the stands and fields to cheer on their teams. Furthermore, families are brought together through watching of favourite sports at their homes. There is also the culture of looking up to some of the sports participates as role models who help shape the dreams, ambitions, and behaviour of the society. Therefore, sports and the athletes play a very crucial role in the society today. The US families for a very long time have idolized some sports, sports teams, and sports personnel. The children have been brought up to love or hate some team depending on what they are taught by their families and peers who introduced them into sports.

According to Gorn and Goldstein (2013, 107), on the category of voluntary activities, sports have been listed as the most frequently participated activity in America society especially among the youth. Gorn and Goldstein (2013, p.108) write that the American youth spend between four and six hours per week for the sporting activities. Bowen and Hitt (2013, online) adds that sports serve as an advantage to the health of the participants

How the People from other Cultures engage in Sports

In the Irish culture, sports also play an important part. However, unlike the American culture where football is the main sporting activity, the Irish society value a game similar to the famous hockey game. The game has been in their culture for over 2000 years and it involves a small ball and a curved wooden stick. Legends in this sport are remembered in the society and are valued as great role models. In Great Britain, the culture is even more popular. There are millions of spectators in sports today who are actively involved in soccer through sports teams such as Arsenal and Manchester United. Peregrine (2008, p.388) explains that the soccer legends form a very important part of the Great Britain society. In Australia, there are sports in sailing and surfing especially due to their climate which has limited their culture into water sports.

Significant differences between how people from Irish and British cultures affiliate and interact with sports as opposed to people in the United States

There exist significant differences between how the United States affiliate and interact with sports and how other geographical regions do. The United States values the sporting programs more and it even offers limitless opportunities for the Americans to engage in sports. There are numerous opportunities for one to be involved either as a spectator or as a participant. In America, sports are a profession that is really valued and an important part of the society. Sports are among the most popular activities in the society that used to relay teamwork, fair play, justice, and hard work. According to Fox (2012), the United States values the sports as they are viewed as contributors to the reduction of discrimination and helped in social integration. The United States has also ensured integration of sports into the schools in a way that no other society has.

Conclusion

It is important to acknowledge that sports are an important and valuable activity in the society. Sports promote the integration of spiritual, environmental, emotional, social, and physical learning that can be applied in all learning areas and throughout a lifetime. The United States has a higher value for education compared to the Irish and British culture. The U.S. has focused more on sports and has integrated it into the education system where institutions spend a huge of their annual allocated budgets to grow the skills of the student-athletes. In addition, the U.S. culture is more of football and basketball than the Irish culture that has focused on hurling and the British that emphasizes on Soccer only. Sports should be incorporated into college classrooms as there is need to educate people on the importance of sports.

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Works Cited

Biddle, S.J.H., Fox, K.R. & Boutcher, S. H. (2000). Physical Activity and Psychology Well-Being. Routledge. London.

Bowen, Daniel H., and Colin Hitt. “High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics.” The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2013, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/high-school-sports-arent-killing-academics/280155/. Accessed 10 July 2017

Carlino G. and Coulson, E. (2004) “Compensating differentials and the social benefits of the NFL,” Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 56, No. 1: pp. 25-50.

Fox, John. 2012. The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game. New York, NY: Harper.

Gorn, Elliott J, and Warren Goldstein. A Brief History of American Sports. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2013. Print.

Peregrine, Peter N. 2008. “Political Strategy and Cross-Cultural Variation in Games.” Cross-Cultural Research 42 (4): 386–93.