Category: Athletes

We are living in a world today where being a doctor is no longer one of the most appreciated fields in the world. Today athletes, basketball players, football players and baseball players are given more appreciation than doctors. As a matter of fact, they even earn more than doctors. If you want to make a lot of money, you can be a doctor and if you want to make even more money than a doctor, become an athlete.

These days athletes earn more than doctors and hold a celebrity status which makes them in demand by different leagues like NBA, NFL or MLB. Athletes in the NBA and MLB gain a lot of attention and love from the public world. Kobe Bryant, is one the biggest example of an athlete having a celebrity status and being one of the highest paid basketball player in the world. His passing caused the whole world to mourn. Whereas many doctors in the world pass away, and the world does not take notice.

One of the reasons why athletes make more money than doctors is because of the industry that they work in. This industry includes both the image of a celebrity and the career of an athlete hence the pay gap between athletes and doctors. Where an average salary of a doctor is 214,523 dollars, the average salary of an NBA player was recorded as 5.15 million dollars in the year of 2010- 2011. Another fact is that even the worst NBA players make the double of a doctors salary.

It is a very common opinion that doctors all around the world to immaculate work by savings lives, compared to athletes who “shoot hoops” and gain celebrity status but athletes are however paid more than doctors because they are a part of the entertainment industry. A survey in America showed that an average American might buy a pay per view rather than donating to the medical industry.

While an argument comes up that doctors compared to athletes are better human beings deserve to get more acknowledgment and respect from the world, that is not the case. Athletes who are less educated than doctors, have a history of abuse and violent behaviour e.g O.J Simpson do not deserve the money and respect that they get. Most people claim “doctors save lives while athletes shoot hoops and kick balls around”, other claims that not all doctors save lives and not all athletes are bad. Becoming an athlete is just as hard as becoming a doctor, it takes years and years to practice and be perfect and some people claim that some doctors even work illegally and that not all surgeons perform legal surgeries.

However, studies show that hypothetically, if there were four fifty doctors, they would make an estimate of 462 million dollars a year and if there were 970,000 NBA players, they would make an average of two thousand, three hundred and ninety eight dollars a year.

To conclude my essay, it is safe to say that athletes make more money than doctors. This is mostly because they are a part of an industry that gives more money to its employees while it makes close to the same amount that is paid. The entertainment industry was estimated to make around two trillion dollars in the year of 2016 and most of the money that is made, goes to the employees. Meanwhile, the US Health Care makes approximately 3 trillion a year and less than 10% of the revenue earned goes to the doctors. Therefore, athletes who are a part of sporting leagues like NBA and NFL make more money than doctors as the industry that they are in makes more money than the medical field and because of their celebrity status, where their fans would go all across the world to see their favourite players play live, not because they deserve more respect than doctors but because of their field of work and their status in the public eye.

“Jackie Robinson was the first ever African american to play in major league baseball”.(history on the net) His dedication and love of the game inspired him to prove everyone wrong. The name calling,thrown items, and potential fights didn’t stop Jackie from conquering what he wanted. To this day, the African american race dominates in sports around the world. He was a man who never gave up, through thick or thin he strived for what he believed in. He was the start to something great. In Jackie Robinson’s speech “this I believe”, he uses a great use of Logos,Pathos, and Repetition, to make this story very effective.

The logos portion of this story is weak, but it adds flavor making the story more diverse and puts the story into category. In his first sentence of the story “at the beginning of the World Series of 1947” … “the National Anthem was played” … “this time, it’s being played for me”. It gives you a clear image of that first day, in Major League Baseball for Robinson. Even though the speech gives you little logos. I feel that it was effective. It tells you how he felt to stand in front of millions of people and listen to the national anthem play. Jackie Robinson was discriminated throughout every game, but as he proved to the people more and more, Jackie Robinson became a part of the franchise. “ A talented and versatile player” (history) Robinson was no joke.

The Pathos portion of this speech is by far the strongest portion of persuasion. In Jackie’s speech from his third to sixth paragraphs, he talks about humans being imperfect. Jackie says, “everyone has handicaps, stumbling blocks, or procedures of some kind.” As Robinson goes on he covers the country’s biggest problems to try and connect with his audience. Throughout the story Robinson pushes the word “Hope.” He had hope that this battle was something he could fight,conquer,and win. He had hope that “With free minds and hearts at work,their was probability of improvement.” In his speech he continues to say we are a “free society” hinting that everyone should be treated equally. He also brings up his children and says he reminds them that in the long run their is always hope. Jackie Robinson was a man who lived off hope. His words, “separate but equal”(history) helped to created the civil rights movement. “ the Negroes had a style of play called tricky baseball” (history)The dodgers manager Leo Durocher says,”This guy didn’t just come to play. He came to beat ya.” Jackie Robinson poured his heart into the people on April 4th,1952. The pathos in this speech made it what it was. A good speech. He showed the people his passion for the sport and tried to gain respect from his crowd. Jackie’s Robinson’s quote, “ I’m not concerned with you liking or disliking me…all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”(Brainy Quote). Is symbolized to give him the equal respect he deserves. Pathos is a skill Jackie Robinson is talented at.

Finally, Jackie Robinson repeatedly uses repetition in his speech. “Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable.”( literary devices) He repeatedly says standout words that are important to him to try and persuade his audience. Once he says the word he wants to repeat, he follows with it in the next sentence and then the next, repeatedly slamming it into your brain. Him along with many other public speakers tend to use reception. Jackie says,”I believe in the human race.I believe in the warm heart.I believe in man’s integrity. I believe in the goodness of a free society. And I believe that the society can remain good” He’s using repetition to get through to you on what he believes in. Jackie also states, “My fight was against the barriers that kept Negroes out of baseball. This was the area where I found imperfection, and where I was best able to fight. And I fought because I know it was not doomed to be a losing fight. It couldn’t be a losing fight not when it took place in a free society.” In this statement Jackie is pounding into the audiences head that he had to fight for what he believed in.

To conclude, Jackie Robinson’s speech “I believe” uses Logos, Pathos, and repetition. He uses all three to make his speech effective. He use of logos shows you what it was like to stand on the field and listen to the national be played in front of the entire world. He uses Pathos to tell you how he feels about his topic and how he should be treated equally. Finally he uses repetition,he uses repetition to make an idea more clearer and memorable. On Jackie Robinson’s debut game he hits 4 balls and one home run to lead his team to victory.” Robinson and the Royals win the 1946 international title over the Louisville colonels.”(sports illustrated) Jackie Robinson also hits a .349 batting average that year making him the league’s best batting average.Robinson goes on to win 5 World series in his career and hitting 137 home runs.

Abstract

Transgender athletes encounter discrimination in the world of sports. Beginning from summer of the 1936 Olympics, “was also known as the “Nazi Olympics”, in Berlin” (Budanovic, Nikola 2019). To our upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Even in High school sports, teenagers are followed by discrimination when parents or students find out about being transgender. There are concerns about transgender girls still having a physical advantage against biological girls. A main concern with transgender athletics is that they might put the biological sex in a disadvantage in any sport.

Introduction

So how are transgender defined? They are defined as someone whose gender identity and sexual expression does not match the sex assigned at birth. Now more than ever, transgender athletes are participating in a lot of sports and breaking records. Staring from the year of 1936 to now in 2020, we have many transgender athletes competing with several rules as well as restrictions. Rules and regulations are establish by the NCAA (National Colligate Athletic Association), State High School Association, and the IOC , (International Olympic Committee.) Some parents and or students are troubled about these athletes because they don’t know if they’ve been on hormonal treatment long enough, if they will put the “biological” sex in an unfair advantage, and even concerns about sexual assaults. The NCAA has specific rules for high school athletes with hormone medications for both Trans Males (FTM) and Trans Female (MTF). This process and regulations have been tough on all transgender athletes.

History

In the summer of 1938, the Olympics were going on in Berlin. It was known like “Nazi Olympics”. Dora Ratjen was an athlete for Germany that competed for them in the high jump. Dora disguised herself as a woman and was the winner of fourth place in the woman’s high jump. Later on in September 1938, in Magdenburg, Germany she won the gold medal for Germany. There was never any questions or concerns her because of her masculine body. Then she was arrested in Magdenburg and that’s she confessed all her story to the police. She had been threaten, stripped down and forced to be examined. She was forced by Nazis to be disguised as a woman to compete for them in order to win more medals for Germany. Evidence showed that when she was born, the mid wife was confused about her gender. When she was born at first she was pronounced a boy but then a girl right after. She admitted that she was a man although she was raised as a female growing up. She was never questioned by anyone about her body type because all her female competitors participating in the Olympics had stronger looking bodies. So she fit in with all the women competitors.

Renee Richards was the first female transgender athlete to play a professionally. She was born in 1934 as a male, her name was Richard Raskin. He was in constant battle between being male or female until he finally decided to have surgery in 1975 to reassign his gender. He changed his name to Renee because this name means “reborn” in French. She played professional tennis and won a tournament in California. US Open tried to conduct a chromosome screening due to controversy to try to keep her out. She refused to take this test so she sued US Open to be able to still play tennis. The judged allowed her to play in 1977 US Open which she lost to Virginia Wade but made the finals of the woman’s doubles.

In the 1960s, woman had to prove their sex to the panel for the Olympics. They were obligated to go through what was a “Naked Parade”. This was a naked inspection to make sure they were in fact female and the panel were usually male physicians. Protests done by the athletes led them to end these “naked parades” and start testing woman differently. So they started conducting a chromosome test for women to ensure they had the XX sex chromosome. “Despite the fact that this test was widely discredited in the scientific community, it was not dropped until shortly before the Sydney 2000 Olympics.” (Donnelly, Peter, Donnelly, K., Michele).

Regulations & Discrimination

The backlash isn’t only on transgender adults. Transgender high school athletes also deal with a lot of discrimination and controversy. Most coming from parents with cisgender children. Their statements are such as “transgender girls are not real girls and give an unfair competitive opportunity”. Or even saying that transgender people should compete only against each other. There was a study and survey done by Rasmussen in May 2019 from 1,000 American adults. The studies showed that most Americans opposed to letting transgender women play in woman’s sports teams. “28% of American adults favor allowing transgender students to participate on the sports team of the gender they identify with. 54% opposed, while 185 are undecided.”(2019, Rasmussen) The NCAA has a policy for transgender student- athletes to participate. These next policies are for transgender student- athletes that are already undergoing their hormonal treatments for their gender transition. “A trans male (FTM) student- athlete who was received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone for diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA completion may compete on a men’s team, but no longer eligible to compete on a woman’s team.” (NCAA) The second policy is “A trans female (MTF) student athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for Gender Identity Disorder or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a woman’s team without changing it to mixed team.” (NCAA) Any other transgender student athlete that is no undergoing hormonal treatment related to gender transitioning are allowed to participate in sex-separated sports according to their assigned birth gender. There are two transgender student- athletes by the name of Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood. They participate in the girl’s Track and Field team in Connecticut. Most parents believe that they have the advantage against the other girls due to the fact they these transgender girls were born male. Parents of the other girl student-athletes started a petition to change the rules and have them sit out for a year to compete their hormonal treatment.

The Olympics

Transgender athletes participating in the Olympics have to follow similar rules by the IOC. The IOC implemented in 2003, rules to allow these athletes to compete. Athletes that transitioned from female to male are allowed to compete in the male category with no restrictions. But those who transitioned from male to female were allowed to compete in the female category with conditions. The conditions include that the athlete has declared that their gender identity is female, must demonstrate the total of their testosterone levels below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months, and must comply with all these conditions and monitoring testing. If the athletes refuse, this with result in suspension from the competition for 12 months. The IOC didn’t allow transgender to compete until the 2014 Olympics. Now under the new polices published in November 2015, the IOC removed the requirement of undergoing surgery and set new limits on the athletes testosterone levels. There was still no changes to the restrictions on transgender men category, transgender women still had to provide their total testosterone level serum. Which has to be below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to their first competition and has to be kept at that level throughout the competition. There are numerous of female transgender athletes, such as Laurel Hubbard. She is a 42 year old New Zealand transgender weightlifter. She has dominated recent tournaments and is allowed to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The controversy with Laurel began after her wins in the Games in Samoa July of 2019. She took home two gold and a silver in three of the women’s category of heavyweights. She had competed in the men’s weightlifting in her thirties before her transition and Women’s rights groups claim that she has an “unfair” advantage and shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s categories. Another well know athlete is Rachel McKinnon. She is a gold medal champion in the 2018 UCI masters Track Cycling and also in Manchester. She is also allowed to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She faces the same concerns as a transgender woman participating in sports due to unfair disadvantages. Another athlete is runner Megan Youngren. She is announced to be the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the US Olympic marathon trails. “On December 8,2019, 28 year old Megan Youngren became one of the 63 women at the California International Marathon to officially qualify for the 2020 Olympic marathon trials, the race to determine the tam for Tokyo.”(Hahn D. Jason 2020) This is big in history for her becoming the first transgender athlete to compete in the marathon.

Conclusion

Whether transgender people are athletes or not, controversy will always be around. All these athletes, especially female transgender, undergo a lot. As we saw, transgender women have to follow specific guidelines to be able to be allowed to play a sport under any women’s categories. Declaration of what gender they identify as , testosterone suppressants, and being on medication for 12 months to almost two years until they are allowed to participate in any sports. Transgender people undergo a lot of body and hormonal changes during this period of time just to feel like their true selves. This year of 2020 will mark a lot of changed records by transgender people in the history of sports. Discrimination and controversy will still surround this topic by many

References

1. Hahn Duaine Jason(February 2020). Article Title.Runner Megan Youngren to Be First Openly Transgender Athlete to Compete at US Olymic Marathon Trails. .
2. McKinnon, Rachel, (2019). ‘www.rachelmckinnon.com
3. IOC Consensus Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism (November 2015) “https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Commissions_PDFfiles/Medical_commission/2015-11_ioc_consensus_meeting_on_sex_reassignment_and_hyperandrogenism-en.pdf”
4. NCAA(2011) NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation,( Page 11) https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Transgender_Handbook_2011_Final.pdf
5. Rasmussen,(June 2019) Most oppose Transgender Athletes on Opposite Sex Teams https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/social_issues/most_oppose_transgender_athletes_on_opposite_sex_teams
6. Briggs, Simon (March 2019) “Why tennis’s Renee Richards, the first transgender woman to play professional sport, matters today.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2018/03/30/tennissrenee-richards-first-transgender-woman-play-professional/
7. Donnelly Peter and Michele K (September 2013) Sex Testing, Naked Inspections and the Olympic Games https://kpe.utoronto.ca/sites/default/files/donnelly-donnelly—sex-testing-naked-inspections-the-olympic-games.pdf
8. Aschwanden, Christie (October 2019) “Trans Athletes Are Posting Victories and Shaking up Sports” https://www.wired.com/story/the-glorious-victories-of-trans-athletes-are-shaking-up-sports/
9. Budanovic, Nikola (May 2019) “Dora Ratjen- German Male who Competed in Hitler’s 1936 Olympics as a Female” https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/05/22/dora-ratjen/

On September 7, 1987, in Frankfurt Germany, a star was born. Destinee Hooker, the Olympic silver medalist, is a hard-working, determined, courageous athlete. In Destinee’s hometown, San Antonio, Texas, she was cut from her volleyball team when she was 13 years old. Some of her coaches told her that she would never get any better, and never be able to play for a club. This didn’t stop Destinee, now she has accomplished training with the U.S. Women’s National Team and received an Olympic silver medal. Destinee is an amazing volleyball player but she didn’t just get good out of nowhere she practiced a lot, during high school and in her early years.

Growing up Destinee’s parents, Ricky and Marvietta Hooker, always encourages sports. At Southwest’s High School Destinee starred in Basketball, track, field, and volleyball. Destinee always tended to do whatever her sister, Marshevet Hooker did. So when Marshevet decided to drop all of her other sports for volleyball, it was a no-brainer for Destinee. This is when Destinee got into volleyball. When Destinee went to college at the University of Texas she participated in track during the offseason of volleyball, Destinee claims that track helped her stay strong for the volleyball season.

Destinee Hookers’ family also plays sports, her sister Marshevet, placed 5th in the 200m dash at the 2008 Olympics. In 1893 Destinees dad, Ricky Hooker earned a spot in the St. Marys’s’s hall of Fame for basketball. In early childhood, Destinee’s dad always encouraged sports but Destinee’s mom highly encouraged school, so while Destinee was growing up her parents had high expectations. Destinee said that this gave her a lot of pressure but she was glad she went for a sports career instead of the education route because she has been provided with so many amazing opportunities. Destinee’s family has left a huge impact of Destinee on how she had succeeded, she has said that without her family she would have never made it anywhere without their love and support. Throughout Destinee’s career, she has had so many astounding opportunities, and she took all of them. For example, in 2008 she trained with the U.S. Women’s National Team. Destinee has said training with such amazing athletes has opened so many new doors for her that it has been a dream come true. About a year later in Destinee’s career, she had decided to get back into track and she won her third NCAA outdoor title. If Destinee is determined enough she can achieve anything “When I was little, there was a time when I quit; I said don’t want to do this anymore,” she said, wiping away tears. “This is a huge turnaround. I’m glad I never gave up.” This quote from Destinee is an example of how she is a determined athlete. It shows how Destinee wanted to give up and drop everything to quit, but instead, she picked herself up and did what she had to do to get where she wanted to be.

In 2011 Destinee Hooker had to leave her Italian Club team in the middle of the season due to her knee injury, a torn ACL, which required surgery. One of Destinee’s major roadblocks in her career was her injury. Destinee didn’t let that stop her. She was determined to get back out on the court. Her recovery took about 8 months and she was itching to get back out onto the court. To make up for all of the lost time she was on the court day and night, doing what she loved. Destinee has had so many amazing opportunities but it goes beyond practicing with special teams, or winning tournaments she made a big event happen for herself by working very hard and learning from her mistakes.

“To have performances like that, back to back, is what you have to do in that tournament,” said McCutcheon, who coached the U.S. men to the Olympic gold medal in 2008. “You play 11 matches in 14 days. You have to string ’em together. (Destinee) was great at that. She was consistent. She just competed like crazy and just kept fighting and scrapping. This is a quote from the 2012 Olympics. Destinee Hookers team took silver for the U.S. Destinee had said after the event that it was such a relief to be done, that it was a weight on her shoulders, but now she feels accomplished and proud of herself. “The thought of being an Olympian has always crossed my mind,” Hooker said. “There’s no other way to describe it. You see others before you represent your country and I, too, wanted that ‘golden’ opportunity. When (coach) Hugh (McCutcheon) told me I was officially an Olympian, I didn’t know what to say. For the first time in my life, I believe, I was speechless. It truly is a blessing.”

Destinee has said that while she was growing up her childhood role model was Logan Tom. In 2012, she had the chance to be on the same team as her. ESPN has stated, “Olympic rookie Destinee Hooker and four-time Olympian Logan Tom both had 14 points for the United States” (ESPN). This quote implies that Destinee is very hard-working because even though she has had less experience in the Olympics she has done just as well as a four-time Olympian and her childhood role model.

Even though she was cut from her 13-year-old volleyball team Destinee Hooker is still a hard-working amazing athlete with the courage and determination to go to the Olympics. She has only done one Olympics in her volleyball career but all of her fans are expecting more to come from this talented amazing athlete.

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He was named after Lionel Richie. As a young boy, Messi used to play soccer along with his two older brothers and their friends. At the age of 8, he joined the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys, a Rosario-based club. Messi dreams of becoming a professional soccer player at age 10. Messi was smaller than most of the kids in his age group. Messi was eventually diagnosed by a doctor as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia, they could not afford to pay. They couldn’t pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication.

Messi was so good at soccer so, at the age of 13, Messi was offered the chance to train with FC Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, and have his medical bills covered. Seen then Messi has only played for FC Barcelona, where he first signed at age 13. He also plays for the Argentina national team. Messi made his first appearance for FC Barcelona, at age 16. In the 2004 – 2005 season, he started to play in Barcelona B-team. However, he was a substitute player in Barcelona’s first team. Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona as a senior team. The contract was set to expire in 2010, with a buyout clause of 167 million dollars. Europe’s top club offered to triple his wages as well as pay his 167 million dollar buyout clause However, Messi stayed. In 2008 Messi was given the number 10 jersey and signed a new contract with an annual salary of 8.6 million dollars.

.Messi met Roccuzzo in their hometown of Rosario when he was 5 years old. On June 30, 2017, Messi married Antonella Roccuzzo, his longtime girlfriend and the cousin of his best friend and fellow soccer player Lucas Scaglia. Messi and Roccuzzo have three sons: Thiago, born in November 2012, and Mateo, born in September 2015, and Ciro, born in March 2018. Messi has a really good relationship with his mother, Celia whose face is tattooed on his hand. Messi’s father has been his agent since the age of 14, while his brother manages his daily schedule and publicity. In 2013 Messi and his father were each given suspended 21-month prison sentences for first-time offenders in Spain who were given suspended sentences if the duration was under two years and were fined $2.2 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

Messi signed a new contract with FC Barcelona through the 2020-21 season, when he’ll be 34 years old. He received a $59.6 million signing bonus. and he earns $667,000 per week, for over $80 million annually. Messi has won everything with Barcelona 6 the best FIFA men’s players, 6 Ballon D’or, 2 UEFA Best players, 4 champions league, 10 Spanish Champions, 16 top scorers, and 10 LaLiga players of the year.

How can we as a society say we are perfect if we still discriminate against the females in the athlete world? This generation of female athletes are still being discriminated for being women. Society is judging them based on how much better men are at playing the sport, but how can you judge a woman by comparing her to a man. The reason many sports leagues have men and women separated is because women were not born the same as men their body are created differently, this does not mean society can judge them just because males play the sport differently. Every female athlete today should not be compared to males. Females should be judged based on their own skill level and accomplishments. There are only a few male athletes that have achieved the best and are acknowledged for their work whereas women are hardly even noticed. The women athletes in our world have so many memorable accomplishments, they deserve equal percentage pay, more recognition and should not be discriminated because they are women.

Female athletes deserve equal percentage pay because they work just as energetically as men who earn numerous amounts of dollars playing in the same sports league. While male athletes are earning millions of dollars, women are still being paid half compared to their counterparts. The best female athletes earn less than male athletes who have not even played a single minute on a court or a field and yet get paid more than some of the best female athletes in the world. For example, Jaylen Adams plays point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, he earns $270,014 and has barely stepped foot on the court in the NBA whereas Candace Parker, who plays forward for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA. She earns $133,500 for playing 30 – 40 minutes per game and still, Candace earns $133,230 less than Jaylen Adams who rarely even touches the court. The reason Jaylen Adams get a higher salary is because there is more available money in the NBA for Jaylen brown to have a higher salary because the NBA makes billions of dollar each year which is profited to the players. The WNBA makes millions of dollar each year which means there is less money that is distributed to each player. Not only are women athletes given such low salaries compared to men playing the same sport, but the gender wage gap is also preposterous.

The Gender wage gap in this sports community is ludicrous and inequitable for the female athlete of this generation. Gender wage gap still has a huge impact on female athletes today, when these women try to publicly talk about these issues their automatically criticized and ostracize for even bring such a topic to discussion. A’ja Wilson was one of several women who tried to bring a claim about this crucial topic. She tweeted about the new contract LeBron James signed with the L.A. Lakers, which got many people talking about wage equality. “Wilson, who was taken first overall by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2018 WNBA Draft, will earn $52,564 in her rookie season. By comparison, her NBA counterpart Deandre Ayton will start his professional career earning $6.8 million playing for the Phoenix Suns — a difference of $6.7 million.” By, (Al Neal. 2018, July 13) After A’ja Wilson tweeted this she was instantly attacked by many reporters and journalist. Someone replied by saying “WNBA Players Should Stop Complaining. If Anything, They’re Over Paid” By, (Al Neal. 2018, July 13) The gender wage gap between the WNBA and NBA is huge because only 20 percent of what is made from the WNBA revenues is given to players whereas, in the NBA, players are given 50 percent of what is made. Gender wage gap plays a huge part in the athlete society and as well as the pay in different leagues for female and male athletes.

Furthermore, the leagues that female athletes play in, make a reduced amount of dollars compared to the leagues males play in. The leagues female athletes play in, should deserve a higher or equal amount of pay because the women’s league work just as efficient and committed as the male leagues but do not have an equal or higher pay than what they have now. The WNBA league should earn more than $60 million dollars a year because if compared to the NBA which earns $7.8 billion dollars a year, it is unfair for the coaches and player in the WNBA because they earn barely anything if comparing to how much coaches and players make in the NBA per year. The WNBA makes so little by comparison to the NBA which makes billions of dollars per year, it is because the NBA has more fans who purchase tickets to watch the game and the NBA is a lot more popular than the WNBA. As a result of female athletes not getting higher pay or even remotely as close as male athletes pay, women also are not as recognized as their male counterpart who have millions of fans. Female athletes get less recognition for their professional skills, and their own line of equipment compared to how many people view both men’s skills and purchase their products.

Female athletes having less recognition is equally as important as female athletes having a harder time producing product compared to how it is simply effortless for males. It is harder for female athletes to sell a line of shoes which goes through a male athletes brand. But it is especially hard for women to come up with ideas for shoes since their not as recognized as their male counterparts, who have over millions of supporters and more than hundreds of fans who buy their shoes. Maya Moore is a forward for the Minnesota Lynx, she is an example of a female athlete who finds its difficult because of the crude real life of being a WNBA player. Maya Moore said that she works so hard to be in the position she is in currently and that all the hard work she put into getting to where she is, is barely even noticed by society. She came out with a line of shoes but to get more recognition she had the basketball shoes go through Michael Jordan’s brand called Air Jordans. Maya Moore is not as well known as Michael Jordan so that why it is extremely hard for her to come out with a line of shoes without any support. It is so unreal to think about the fact that women in the WNBA have to rely on their male counterparts to get more recognition.

In addition to less recognition of female athletes compared to how many people recognize male athletes. Female athletes do not have as many fans as male athletes who play in the same sports league. Female athletes do not get as many fans watching their games in the arenas or on television in contrast to male athletes who have over millions of people watching from home or from in the arena. Women in the WNBA have an increase of 36 percent of adults watching on television, a percentage of 50 women watching and 29 percent male. The 2017-18 WNBA season had around 250,000 people watching on ESPN, a 39 percent increase of viewer from the previous WNBA season. But these percentages compared to NBA are nothing, from just the start of the 2017-18 NBA season it had 1,920,000 viewers watching on ESPN, the start of the season a 24 percent increase from last years total season. From the beginning of the NBA 2017-18 season, and the overall 2017-18 season of the WNBA, the NBA had 1,670,000 more viewers than the WNBA. The WNBA is not as popular, so it does not have as many supporters whereas the NBA as millions of fans who support them. It is extremely difficult for female athletes in this world to get recognition because society judges them by comparing them to male athletes. Society thinks women are not good enough by differentiating them from male athletes obviously, they are not as muscular or strong, but it does not mean they are not willing to try their best.

There are thousands of reasons female athletes are discriminated by society, women are considered less than males because of inaccurate stereotypes. The factors that cause society to use such rude stereotypes against women are because they are being compared to male athletes. One of many stereotypes against female athletes is that they are not physically fit for the sport, society thinks this because they see how male athletes are stronger but it does not mean women are not just as strong. Society considers WNBA players as just girls and that is all, and how their skill level is nowhere as good as the men in the NBA. Female athletes are judged daily on how they are not good enough, strong enough or even fast as men. Even though women are not scientifically muscular as men they should not be discriminated because they are women.

Female athletes are not just judged based on how they physically play but society also thinks that women are prone to having emotional breakdowns. Society views women as sensitive and emotional human beings, people see these through stereotypes. An example is how people in this world tend to believe that women like to talk about their emotions whereas men do not even acknowledge it. One of multiple reason to why the WNBA has fewer viewers than the NBA is because people believe that women are too empathetic and emotionally nice that they do not play hardcore defence but in the NBA they play intensely with long-standing defence because society believes men are tougher and will pick a fight which makes an NBA game extremely intense. The female athletes in today’s generation are still being discriminated by hundreds of people and no one has done anything to resolve this extensive issue.

In conclusion, female athletes have always been considered less than men, never equal or higher by society. Which is a factor to why women have such low salaries, female athletes work so hard to get where they are today, some of the top females in their league still get paid less than most males in their rookie season. Less recognition, female athletes are hardly in the spotlight by comparison to males, female athletes have fewer fans which is why it is harder for them to sell their own products. Another factor is female athletes are discriminated for being women, the stereotypes towards female athletes are so harsh and unspeakable, they are judged because apparently women are too emotionally and not physically or mentally fit to be athletes. This issue has not been resolved for a long period of time. Significantly women should rightfully have an equal say as men and should not be attacked for believing what is right for them or wanting something they should have always been given. Nevertheless, these outstanding females need to be showcased on a trophy wall for all their hard work and effort they put into getting where they are standing today.

This research will discuss about difficulty of being a student athlete. researcher chose this topic because being a student athlete herself, She already know the feeling of being one. And because her, being a student athlete it makes her more eager to know more about the struggles and difficulties they’re facing, as time goes by.

Being student athlete is not easy because ‘Being a student athlete is one of the most rewarding and stressful thing ever. You have to maintain different activities at one time, including the fact that you have to maintain a certain GPA to be qualified as an athlete on any team. Student athletes have much more to prioritize than the average student’ (Brown,2016).

The researcher interviewed her father and said that,’ I have to go to school in the morning, and after class I have to rush in the school gym to train. And if I got late, I have to do some suicides to pay for it’ (Lomtong,2019). Her father was once a student athlete, playing basketball for Pasay City West high School and once experienced the curse of being a student athlete.

That’s not all, because while you’re playing more and long, it makes it more difficult because ‘Being a college athlete means being different. It means having different experiences, more responsibility and being held to a higher standard’ (Sheridan,2018). It is harder than being a normal student, grade school and high school, specially when we’re talking about being a college student mixed with being a student athlete. It makes it more hard to handle.

Well, we all know that every student have their own routine everyday, but if you’re a student athlete, your everyday routine is ‘wake up. Class. Training. Rest. Sleep. And if you did’nt notice, I didn’t even include studying and doing homework as part of the routine, which means that when there’s work due, student athletes have to sacrifice vital rest time (or worse, sleep time) to compensate for it’ (Pessumal,2016). Just like what Von Pessumal of Ateneo Blue Eagles said, being a student athlete is like being a hero, you have to take risks and sacrifice all for it.

Being student athlete not just means having a struggle and being stressed, because in some point it’s also helpful specially for those who are in public school before and don’t have a stable life. It gives them a chance to study in private schools and will get some allowance, If you’re really consistent and passionate about it, because ‘If you’re one of the fortunate student athletes to receive an athletic scholarship, you know how much it can help in alleviating the cost of school and making your sport all the more worth playing’ (Team,2017). Team Stath said it can help you study in any university you want and it can help you by having a scholarship.

And talking about being sporty, you should motivate yourself,’Every single day I think as an athlete, I pressure myself because I really wanted to improve, or till I see in my performance that I can push myself even more. But quitting? It never passed my mind, even if the training is very hard’ (Valdez,2018). Always motivate and push yourself up every single day like how Alyssa Valdez did. She’s really passionate and she really loves playing her sport, volleyball.

Now, the researcher found out that being student athlete is more difficult than she thought it was before. She found out that being student athlete is more difficult when the student athlete comes to being a college students as well, but she knows that everything can be handled if you know how to manage your time.

The researcher also knew that there are many opportunities coming when you’re a student athlete, good student athlete rather, such as having scholarship to study in a university and getting paid at the same time, which is called allowance.

Being student athlete can help you with so many things. It teaches you on how to be a respectful and responsible student, athlete, specially a respectful and responsible individual and most especially it will teach you greatly on time management. You’ll learn how to manage your time wisely, sacrificing and taking risks just to overcome your long loving sport and also to help your family by not paying your studying in a private university and being paid as well, you can give them some of your allowance to help them to pay your bills and others that they have to pay for your everyday living.

Resources

1. https://www.cornerstone.edu/blogs/navigating-undergrad/post/balancing-life-as-a-student-athlete
2. https://slamonlineph.com/what-life-is-really-like-as-a-student-athlete/
3. https://meg.onemega.com/alyssa-valdez-volleyball/
4. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-struggles-of-student-athlete
5. https://www.stathblog.com/resources//10-benefits-of-being-a-student-athlete

Abstract

As one of the oldest sports in the world, the origin of athletics, or track and field, can be traced back to Ancient Greece. In 776 BC, the first Olympic game, track and field event was held for the first time. Over time, more and more events such as swimming, cycling, fencing, and so on have been introduced to Olympics. However, if we look closer into every sports, it is fair to say that track and field is the foundation of all kinds of sports. In other words, we can even say that Olympics is built around athletics. Therefore, whenever Olympic Games take place, track and field is definitely one of sports that attract most attention.

There are some significant track and field events in history that influenced China and change the world’s view on this emerging power. Apart from changing China, athletics also affected America greatly throughout its history. However, unlike its rich history, athletics was first used as a tool to demonstrate nation supremacy at the 1960 Olympics when the US national team lost some essential events to the Soviet Union.[footnoteRef:1] During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union made every effort to win as many events as possible to show the dominance in Olympics and also to the world. China, at that time, was still isolated from others and no one else in the world knew the sport culture of it. After Cold war, athletics slipped into the doldrums and lost the popularity due to doping issues.

Until the 2004 Olympics, the Chinses athlete, Liu Xiang broke the Olympic record in 110 meters hurdle and took the world by storm.[footnoteRef:3] His outstanding performance sent a message to the world that China is now able to produce a gold medalist in track and field. Liu Xiang also raised the track and field trend in China and the world, being an athlete role model.[footnoteRef:4] At 2008, Usain Bolt, a young athlete from Jamaica, broke the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay records in one Olympics. His performance brought a new face to athletics and changed the future of the Olympic Games.

Patrick Nally, the founding father of sports marketing and sports business industry, also coined the phrase” The Usain Bolt Effect” to indicate the commercialization of superstar athletes in the country.[footnoteRef:6] Although the effect seemed to start after the 2008 Olympics, Liu Xiang and his performance were first thought that athletics could be of great economic value. Receiving more than 1 million RMB dollars from various sponsors, his superstar effect boosted the entire economy in China and catalyst the birth of many new track stars.

Until now, athletics is not just about winning the game and become the best athlete in the world. It has also become entangled in politics, economics, and national strength.

Athletics and Cold War

The birth of the word “athletics” is said to be derived from “Athlos” meaning contest in Greek. Also, the Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius” which means faster, higher, stronger and athletics happens to be the sport that strive for these. Since the first modern Olympics Games in 1896, athletics has been the major part of every Summer Olympics. At 2012 Olympics, for example, audience of 20 million watched the final of 100 meters and over 17 million people saw Mo Farah, a British athlete, clinched gold in 10,000 meters.

It might seem like athletics is nothing more than a popular sport around the world, but actually it has been used in other ways since 1960 Olympics at Rome.

This was the first commercially televised game which means its impact on the world is more widespread than ever before. The game took place in the middle of Cold War and the Soviets had just learned from Hitler that Olympics are great sources of propaganda. Every event eventually became a part of the American-Soviet rivalry. Every winning was depicted as proof of supremacy. In the first week of September 1960, an American journal Sports Illustrated showed the confidence of American people and the bright prospects. Events that attracted most attention were the men’s 100 meters, which American had not lost that event since 1928, and men’s high jump, which the journal boldly wrote “the only question is second place”. However, on September 1, John Thomas, said to be the surest gold medal winner, settled for bronze behind two Russians. That day was remembered by America as “the darkest day in United States track and field history”. What was worse, the US team was disqualified for a faulty baton pass in the 4×100 relay and lost the 100 meters to a German athlete. It might seemed to be the darkest time for the entire America, but the election then turned out to be very surprising. John F. Kennedy, the candidate of Democratic Party, used the defeats and disappointments to help him win the election by claiming these as a new birth to the new America.

Apart from the international politics and the election, the 1960 Olympics also influenced the race issues and gender issues in America. Wilma Rudolph, a female African-American sprinter won the gold medals in 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 relay. Her performance brought a new perspective on women’s sports and race issues, showing to the world that women’s competition can fairly change the overall number of medals. By the time the Rome Olympics ended, the world had changed the view on the supremacy of America in Cold War. To counter that atmosphere, the US team tried to win back the position by winning the 100 meters in 1964 and 1968 Olympics, showing that the US had really rebirth from the setbacks at Rome.

Athletics in China

Although the first Chinese athlete at the Olympics Games, Liu Changchun competed in the 100 meters race, the overall strength of athletics in China had been very weak and the performance was not very stable.

From 1984, China’s first return to the Olympics Games as People’s Republic of China, to 2008, the first Olympics Games held by China in Beijing, China’s athletics only captured 5 gold medals accounting for only 2.3% of the total 262 gold medals won in the 7 Olympic Games. Also, in the 24 years, there were only 14 athletes who entered the top 3 in the finals and only 51 athletes entered the top 8.

If we take a closer look at the content of each Olympics, we can see that the strength of athletics on China is weak compared to other countries. In the 24 years, the number of medals in each Olympic Games was between 1 and 4 which didn’t fluctuate much. However, if we see the statistics of the number of athletes who entered the finals, we can see the big difference. The highest number of athletes entered the finals is 12 at 1992 Barcelona Olympics with 4 medals. The lowest number was just 8 years later at 200 Sydney Olympics, with only 3 athletes in the finals and only one medal. From these results, we can see the overall performance of athletes was unstable while the number of medals stayed at a steady number.

During these Olympic Games, the international position of China seemed not to be influenced by the relatively backward level of athletics. In fact, since the role of China in international politics had become more and more important after the Ping-pong Diplomacy, the overall level of athletics had been at a low level without any athletes that could show the world that China is able to compete with others not just in sports but also in international affairs.

However, after Liu Xiang broke the Olympic record which took China and the world by storm, the world had started to notice this nation again. Four years later, China host the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. Although China only won 4 medals in athletics, the total number of medals was 100, ranking second behind the US. It can’t be denied that the game helped China reach a milestone in the exploration of soft power. The Chinese elites considered the huge event as a century old dream of Chinese people. During the game, the world surely saw the best picture of China. As a developing country, China surely gained a lasting reputation and credibility which enabled China to host the IAAF World Championships, a game as important to athletes as Olympics, in Beijing 2015.

At the 2012 London Olympic Games, China athletics team won 9 medals in total with Chen Ding’s gold medal and another Olympic record in 20 kilometers walk. The overall level of athletics in China really increased but still unable to compete with nations like the US, the UK, and even Japan.

Three years later, a Chinese sprinter, Su Bingtian, ran 9.99 seconds in 100 meters in Oregon and became the first Chinese man to run under 10 seconds. At the IAAF World Championships, Su Bingtian along with his other three teammates ran 38.01 seconds and won the silver medal for them and for China. China Daily, a newspaper in China, even proclaimed that the” Fantastic Four” were ready to rewrite the history in the 2016 Rio Olympics. China, nowadays, is able to compete with those nations good at athletics.

Attitude towards Athletics

During Cold War, we can see two giant political power, US and the Soviet Union, competing with each other in every competition and when one of them won, the success would then be depicted as a proof of supremacy. During 1992 to 2000, athletics had been pushed back to the dark ages because of the doping issues and nations had put fewer attention to the medals in athletics events.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was not only of great importance to China but also the game that changed the world forever. Usain Bolt, a young Jamaican sprinter, broke three Olympic records in one Olympic Games. His outstanding performance put athletics back into the spotlight. Nations also noticed the commercial profit behind superstar athletes. Many public media then coined the term “The Usain Bolt Effect” to illustrate what was about to happen in the near future.

Bolt’s performance had introduced sports marketing into athletics. Governing bodies had decided to invest in individual athlete even though they clearly understood the risks of an athlete being blighted by personal scandals like doping. By using social and traditional media, governing bodies can commercialize their athletes and gain the profit from the reputation of the athlete. In fact, Liu Xiang already received more than one million RMB from various sponsors and media agencies after the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. China, at that time, thought athletics could be of great significance of the GDP while the rest of the world still regarded this as a kind of leisure activity. Thanks to “The Usain Bolt Effect”, athletics had regained its popularity in sports and been proved that there really are economic benefits. In the US, track and field athletes made at least 14 million USD in 2016 and 28 athletes among them made more than a $100,000 each.

Nations changed their view on athletics. To athletes, athletics is just what they love and they want to become better and better through competitions. To nations, it changed from a tool of political demonstration to a sport that few people cared about and finally to a way to increase the GDP, Jamaican economy, for example, was benefited from The Usain Bolt Effect.

Conclusion

Before athletics was used as a tool of politics in 1960, few people knew that this sport would make such a difference in many aspects. Any competition since the darkest day in United States track and field history had been a competition between national images. Unfortunately, after the Cold War, athletics suffered from doping issues and lost its popularity. The world hadn’t put much attention to this sport for over ten years until Liu Xiang grabbed the world’s attention back to athletics by his stunning performance in 2004. Four years later, Usain Bolt saved athletics by his enthusiasm in athletics and his record-breaking performance. The rebirth of athletics not only brought back the attentions but also let economic benefits enter athletics. Nowadays, athletics plays a huge role in every Olympics and nations could earn some profits from winning the events

As for the athletics in China, we could clearly see the difference before and after Liu Xiang’s gold medal. China didn’t realize the importance of athletics when it only focused on the reapplication for membership of international organizations, which made the overall level of athletics relatively backward compared to other nations. After Liu Xiang, China not only exploited the Beijing Olympics as a kind of soft power but also produced a number of great athletes that took China athletics into another level. With the help of athletics, China is now a competitor worth attention in sports and also in economy.

Bibliography

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Activism involves actions and efforts which are used to create a social or political change. The most famous activists include Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai. King and Mandela fought for racial equality within their nations, while Yousafzai has dedicated her life to gender equality, primarily women’s education. An activist must be passionate and educated on the topic they are focused on. They must also take steps to contribute to the specific cause in order to draw more attention and support from the public. There are no laws or regulations that prohibit a certain group of people from becoming activists; however, there is an ongoing debate on whether athletes should be activists. Athletes being activists is beneficial because they have a platform that allows them to spread a message to the public.

One of these athletes includes Colin Kaepernick, a former 49ers quarterback. He covered dozens of headlines in August 2016 when he decided to take a knee during the national anthem at one of his games. Kaepernick’s response as to why he refused to stand was to peacefully protest against racism facing black people in America. He claims, ‘[He is]…not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,”(ESPN). This simple act of protesting was met with an incredible amount of both backlash and approval. To some, the refusal was seen as a sign of disrespect toward the country, while others, applauded his actions since it was for a cause that deeply affects our country. Those against Kaepernick’s stance includes the NFL and President Trump. The president even tweeted that the NFL should fire players that choose to kneel. Eventually, other players joined Kaepernick and his silent fight against racism and oppression. However, since he inspired the act, once he dropped his contract with the 49ers, no other NFL teams wanted to hire him. There is a belief that the NFL conspired against him and made sure he could no longer be a part of the league.

Another prominent athletic figure who has made his mark as an activist is Lebron James. James is one of the biggest names in the NBA and uses his celebrity to influence public opinion by sharing his views on political and social issues. After the death of Trayvon Martin, he and his teammates posed for a picture dressed in black hoodies as a tribute. He posted the image on social media with the caption, #wearetrayvonmartin. He also wore a shirt with the words “I can’t breathe” before a game as a dedication to Eric Garner, a black man who was killed by police while being arrested. James constantly expresses his thoughts and opinions on social media and interviews and, as one can expect, is faced with both negative and positive feedback. A female reporter even went as far as to tell James to “shut up and dribble”. In response, James used her comment for the title of his executively produced docu-series, which touches upon how different NBA players used their voices and platforms to address social and political events. The three-part series highlights how athletes put their careers on the line to fight for causes they believed in.

Another famous athlete activist is Billie Jean King. King is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player. During her time as a player, she advocated for equal gender rights in sports. Male tennis player, Bobby Riggs soon challenged King to a tennis match, that was dubbed “Battle of the Sexes”. It was a winner-take-all match, where the victor won a prize of $100,000, or $564,000 today. Riggs had the most support for the “battle”, he even placed bets and invested a lot of money in the match. However, in spite of what many believed the outcome would be, King won all three sets against her opponent in what was the most publicized tennis match in history with an audience of 90 million viewers. The victory was not only for her but shared within the entire women sports community. It demonstrated that women can excel, and even perform better in what is considered a male-dominated sport. Not only is King famous for her win over Riggs, but she is also the first prominent female athlete to come out as a lesbian. As a result, she lost her endorsements, but also became a voice for the LGBT community, not only in sports but in the country.

Contrary to previous arguments supporting athlete activists, there could be negatives to this claim. To many, sports should be a time to escape from issues facing our nation. People love sports because they allow us to see athletes perform amazing feats, not make us socially conscious. Another reason is that it may distract from the game itself. For example, Kaepernick’s protests were made during his games, and they usually became the focal point. Since there are beliefs against athletes becoming involved in social and political issues, it could put the career of many athletes in jeopardy. Fans could begin to boycott these sports or destroy athletic merchandise.

The argument over athletes being activists is one that should be put to rest. Athletes are able to give certain issues a larger platform and can spread a message across the public in a more widespread manner. Colin Kaepernick sacrificed his entire career by peacefully protesting oppression against the black community. His form of protesting was silent and, since it occurred during the national anthem, did not interrupt or disrupt the actual game. The former football player has founded the ‘Know Your Rights Camp’, which is an organization which teaches disadvantaged youths about self-empowerment, American history, and legal rights. He has also donated $1 million to foundations in oppressed communities. Lebron James, for example, uses social media as a tactic to broadcast his outlook on different issues affecting the country. Also, his docu-series is successful in defending the athlete activist stance, as it shows different NBA players who have used their celebrity to send a message to the country. Lastly, Billie Jean King used her career as a platform to fight for women’s rights in sports, and later the LGBTQ community. Athletes becoming activists actually has more benefits than downfalls. Most athletes also have the money and connections to make social and political issues more publicized. Also, as previously stated, it provides a larger audience and gives the public a figure that they already admire. Since many see athletes as role models or heroes, would we prefer them to be ignorant of the world around them?

Volleyball is an old and historic sport that was created in the 19th century. It is a worldwide sport today with millions practicing it each day. In the past few years volleyball has become almost as popular as basketball and football. In fact it used to be called mintonette before its name was changed to volleyball. Volleyball is a respected sport all around the world, it is played in the Olympics and it has its own volleyball league called FIVB. It is played with six players per team that change positions throughout the game. ( The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Volleyball is a pretty simple games but there are many ways you can get a foul some of which can lead to a yellow or red card. There are numerous common fouls that everyone has done at least a couple of times. It is considered a foul for a team to touch the ball more than three times before giving it to the other team and it is also considered a foul to catch the ball in a game. It is considered a foul for the same player to touch the ball two consecutive times and it is also considered a foul to touch the net will throwing the ball. It is considered a foul to help another player in throwing the ball and it is also considered a foul when a player enters the other team’s court when they are ‘in play’. It is considered a foul if the server serves the ball 8 seconds after the referee has blown the whistle and it is also considered a foul to touch the outside zone while the server is executing the serve. It is considered a foul if a player hits the ball in the opponent’s court when it is the first shot in a play and it is also considered a foul for a player to hit a the ball when it he is touching the outside of the court. There are of course more serious fouls that can lead to the player getting a yellow or red card. A player can get a yellow card if he offends the referee in an inappropriate way, or messes with the net out of anger or refuses to give the ball back to the other team or physical aggression. A player can get a red card if he repeats any of the previous behaviors more than two times in one game or if a player is rude of the other players and/ or the referees. (strength-and-power-for-volleyball) (Rules of Volleyball) (Hertogh, 2016) (6 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT VOLLEYBALL PENALTY CARDS)

There are thousands of exercises used to train athletes and make them better at volleyball. Players can improve their volleyball shooting skills either on their own or with a partner. You can improve your shooting skills by practicing passing to a wall, this is very effective as it can be repeated as many times as needed to get a hang of the ball and it can be done continuously, as it greatly improves performance in a game. You can also improve your shooting skills by practicing the snap which is a drill done by holding the ball in you non writing hand and placing your hand in front of your body with quite amount of space between you and the hand holding the ball, and then bringing the ball next to your face and opening it wide, then slapping/ hitting the ball as hard as you can, this helps improve strength is shooting and is especially effective in beginners. You can also improve your shooting skills by practicing passing to yourself but without a wall and you can do that by standing up and placing your hand with the ball above your face to practice passing it up and then rebounding it back, this is helps you gain better control of you pass making it also easier to control you hits. You can also improve your shooting skills by repeating the last exercise but with lying your back on the floor and bending your knees, this exercise also helps the player gain better control of the ball while in the game. You can also improve your shooting skills by practicing your serves by going to an empty large space or a volleyball court, and throwing the ball in the air while jumping to slap/ hit it very hard across the court to land in the opponent’s court, this is very important as serves can be crucial for scoring and for practicing shooting skills. You can also improve your shooting skills by having a partner with you to practice passing to each other over the net to increase you control over the ball. You can also improve your shooting skills by having a partner to try to defend the ball while you try to attack and shoot in order to improve you shooting and attacking skill, while also becoming aware on how players can defend your shots. You can also improve your shooting skills by having a partner to practice with consistent passing which is passing for prolonged amount of time non-stop to improve the control of the ball, your position and footwork. You can also improve your shooting skills by having a partner to practice with a reactivity exercise that includes one of you giving your back to the other and the other will shoot him the ball, and when he hears that the ball has been shot he will turn to pass the ball back, this exercise will shorten the time you take to react to the ball and improve you passing and shooting skills. You can also improve your shooting skills by having a partner to practice hitting and snapping with, first both players will stand facing each other and then the will continue hitting and snapping to each other to develop their attacking, hitting and shooting skills. (VOLLEYBALL PARTNER DRILLS) (Whitney, 2019) (One Man Volleyball Drills You Can Do at Home) (Volleyball Hitting Drills)

There are many different game plans used by couches worldwide and one of the most popular among them is the 5 – 1 offensive game plan. The 5 – 1 offensive game plan is designed to have five hitters and only one setter, which allows the hitters to get used to the setter since there is only one. In the 5 – 1 game plan the setter can be either in the front row or the back row. In the beginning of the game the setter will be on the right in the middle and after the opponent has served each player will go to their place. During the game the players mostly try to make sure that the setter doesn’t receive the first pass or the serve because that will require the libro to step in as a setter. The setter’s role is to try and open up many opportunities for the hitters to score and is crucial to the game, this is why the hitters in the 5 – 1 game plan try to make sure that he is always in play. Hitters are mostly responsible for attacking the opponents, but they also have blocking and passing responsibilities. (The 5-1 Volleyball Rotation Explained (Including Diagrams), 2018) (Basic Descriptions of Volleyball Positions)

One of the greatest volleyball games was the 2018 FIVB final between Poland and Brazil. In the beginning of the game the teams were neck to neck when one advances one point the other does too. Later Poland started pulling ahead by a point then by two points, until Poland maintained a lead of four points, the Brazil started catching up slowly, until they both reached to 24 points, and they kept staying neck to neck until Poland won the first game with 28 points to 26 points. Poland’s team has strategized, to have a very strong front row which was clear because their coach has placed three front attackers between the six players. The front row in Poland’s team would always shoot just over the net to make it harder for Brazil to intercept and send the ball back. Poland’s back row and especially server would shoot to the back of Brazil’s court also making it hard for them to intercept the ball, however this caused them quite a few faults as the ball would go out of play/ outside the court causing Brazil to gain a point. Poland’s triangular formation had a weak spot in the middle that Brazil kept scoring into in the beginning of the game, and they also had a not very guarded/ protected back, which lead to brazil scoring into it frequently when they began to catch up. Poland’s coach had a strategy of having a very strong and heavily guarded front row which is shown by his decision to have three front row attackers. He also had plan to make the players in the front row close to the net, and for the players to shoot at the end of Brazil’s court or in the beginning (just over the net) of Brazil’s court making it very hard and tricky for Brazil to be able to block the ball. Brazil had a more compact triangular formation that didn’t have a strong front row, which is why Poland had pulled ahead in the beginning, so they strengthened their front row to be able to catch up. Brazil also tried to target Poland’s weak point the back of their court during serves, which almost lead them victory in the first game. I think Brazil’s original plan was adapted during the game when they realized they need to change some of the plan in order to be victorious. This is why after the time out with their coach they played better as they had started to focus on Poland’s weak spots and they strengthened the places Poland was scoring in.

Video recording of the game is vital in any sport as it helps the referees distinguish between balls that were too close to the edge of the court whether they are in or out. Video records are crucial especially in volleyball, since the balls move at a hundred kilometers per hour and in most plays are too close to the border to determine with the naked eye whether it is in or out. So video records and slow motion streaming helps referees determine whether or not the shot was a fault or not. However they aren’t used every time a ball goes out, because like that there would be no need for a referee, and the game would take too much time as it is very time consuming to check each play with the video record. This is why in sports the referee determines whether the ball was in or out, but if a couch or player disagrees they can challenge and then a slow motion video recording will play and it will determine if the ball was a fault or not.

Volleyball is a worldwide sport celebrated by thousands in each country, volleyball also is a great and noble sport that needs skill, strategy and practice. It is a complicated sport that only the most persistent excel at, other than that it needs physically exceptional humans that are strong and tall. Even if you don’t play it is entertaining to watch all those players coordinate, cooperate and strategize to ensure their team’s success.

Bibliography

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