Role Of Sport In Education

The role of sport in the society, and more particularly in schools, has been debated for many decades. There are divergent point of view on the value of sport, with proponents on one end of the continuum hailing sport as having the same goals and objectives as all of education and on the other end those who purport that sport is an entertainment enterprise that should be separated from education altogether.

A Brief Historical Perspective

According to WIKIPEDIA, Sport is all form of competitive physical activities which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and provide entertainment to participants.

“Sport” comes from the old French word meaning “leisure”, with the oldest definition in English from around 1300 being “anything humans find amusing or entertaining”. The Chinese term for sport, “tiyu” connotes physical training. The Modern Greek term for sport is “athlitismos” directly cognate with the English terms “athlete” and “athleticism”.

Others meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting and games and diversion

The debate continues as to the value of sport in education. Sport is ingrained in society as both an educational fixture and an entertainment enterprise. The argument continues as to whether or not sport holds valued benefits for its youth and young adult participants and therefore warrants a prominent place in the educational system.

Youth Participation

Youth Sports present children with opportunities for fun, socialization, and forming peer relationships, physical fitness, and athletic scholarships. Activist for education encourage youth sports as a means to increase educational participation. Youth Sport Participation is now popular in Nigeria. Sport like Chess, Draft, Volleyball, Tennis, Basketball, Handball, Beach Soccer, Cricket, Golf, etc. are becoming popular in Nigeria, With the help of Government and Sponsors Sport can be major source of revenue in Nigeria.

Benefits of Sports to a Child's Development

A wide spectrum of outcomes has been attributed to modern-day sports and play. Critics have condemned sport for fostering excessive violence, an overemphasis on competition and winning, and the exploitation of individuals. Sport proponents have extolled the value of sport as a contributor to health, personal fulfillment, and community integration.

It is important to look at how sport has the potential for producing positive outcomes in educational and noneducational settings for children and youth. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has proposed a model for systematically assessing the potential positive outcomes of sports and the conditions necessary to produce them. The Csikszentmihalyi model is based on the premise that four main types of consequences are of importance when examining and/or evaluating any sport activity. Two of these consequences are present at the individual level: personal enjoyment and personal growth; and two are at the community level: social harmony/integration and social growth/change. In relation to this model, an ideal sport activity is one that contributes in significant ways to all four types of outcomes.

Leonard Wankel and Philip Kreisel have identified five factors that should be present for a child or youth to experience the benefit of personal enjoyment in sport: personal accomplishment, excitement of the sport, improving one's sports skills, testing one's skills against others, and just performing the skills. These factors are thought to contribute most to the enjoyment of sport.

Personal growth includes a variety of physical and psychological factors. Physical health can be maintained and improved through sport participation by enhancing the cardiovascular system; improving blood pressure and cholesterol levels; increasing muscular strength; improving muscular endurance, flexibility, and bone density; and weight management. Because sports are a major type of activity in which children and youth are involved, it is considered a viable method of promoting good health. Lifetime sports, such as golf, tennis, swimming, and cycling, are especially beneficial in meeting nationally established health objectives. Early childhood participation in sport can minimize the emphasis on competition and focus on skill instruction. However, sports may not be a sufficient substitute for physical education programs in the schools. Quality physical education curriculums that have developmentally appropriate physical activities which provide the necessary foundations in motor skill, movement acquisition, and behavioural development can enable children and youth to become successful participants in organized sport.

Numerous studies support the positive relationship that exists between psychological well-being and regular involvement in physical activity, especially in the areas of reduction of anxiety and depression. Conditions to maximize such outcomes are usually associated with individual preferences related to activity type; environmental factors; level of competition or intensity of activity; and individual versus group format.

Sport has also been shown to serve as a mechanism for the transmission of values, knowledge, and norms in creating social harmony. The specific values conveyed may be those of the dominant society, or they could be those of a subgroup. Therefore, sport could contribute to either differentiation and stratification or to integration into the overall society. Evidence indicates that different sports appeal to different social stratifications in the society and may reinforce cultural or societal differences. Sport also may serve to transmit general societal values, which leads many sport authorities to believe that sport has positive value for the participants in building character, discipline, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work in teams. The research literature supports the importance of de-emphasizing winning and competition and thereby moving young people into positive and enjoyable experiences. Unfortunately, the trend has been toward a more competitive, "win-oriented" framework, which has created increased aggression and violent behaviors among spectators and youth participants. This has led to many national forums at the high school, collegiate, and community levels to reassess the sport culture.

Positive outcomes related to socialization and social integration are also dependent upon appropriate leadership, as well as the creation of a climate for this to occur within the sport experience. Changes within sport and change in the general society have a symbiotic relationship - general societal changes affect sport, and changes in sport can also affect society.

Conclusion

Youth sports participation can have many benefits for the individual and for society. However, it is evident that sports can produce negative consequences if quality programs are not developed. Schools and communities can strive for the highest standards by educating and training coaches, deterring the professionalization of youth sports programs, and abiding by the guidelines established by national sport governing bodies, so that sports programs have optimal benefit for all youth, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or ability.