Category: Athletes

As a college Athlete Student, I notice that it is Special privileges taking hold in colleges now. You may have seen about it on sports channels, around the media, television set, or the school they attend, and some may have received at first hand. College athletes can bear out the regulations in not being reprimanded for the action, not adapting to the lack of the striatum, such as grades and appearance, which make it unacceptable to the non-students. Colleges are more focused on college students that play sports instead of average college students that do not take part in the games. College scholar-athletes are getting special privileges and getting paid. It is unfair to the non-athletic that the student-athlete can get away with the rules just because they are an athlete. Students who are not athletes should be treated athletes equally because of special treatments from the Teachers, and admissions Special privileges (Getting paid and scholarships).

Not every college student that attends college gets the same treatment as the ones that are a college Athlete. College athletes can miss classes for games, practice and Sometimes meetings and not be held accountable for the grades they did not receive, test, and attendance. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) noticed that Student-Athlete was earning grades and credit they did not deserve because they never functioned as the course of study such as they never attended class, so they did not know what was going in class because they were not present that day. Head Advisors and students tried to out cheat and look over the principles of the NCAA. They design the NCAA for college athlete scholars it is offered by universities, but these regulations do not Act as they should. They can earn a passing degree because the professors are more lenient with the Athlete-Student than ordinary students that don’t engage in sports. Simons, Herbert D., et al., “The athlete Stigma in Higher education” students that write a college Student journal and attends University of

As a college Athlete Student, I notice that it is Special privileges taking hold in colleges now. You may have seen about it on sports channels, around the media, television set, or the school they attend, and some may have received at first hand. College athletes can bear out the regulations in not being reprimanded for the action, not adapting to the lack of the striatum, such as grades and appearance, which make it unacceptable to the non-students. Colleges are more focused on college students that play sports instead of average college students that do not take part in the games. College scholar-athletes are getting special privileges and getting paid. It is unfair to the non-athletic that the student-athlete can get away with the rules just because they are an athlete. Students who are not athletes should be treated athletes equally because of special treatments from the Teachers, and admissions Special privileges (Getting paid and scholarships).

Not every college student that attends college gets the same treatment as the ones that are a college Athlete. College athletes can miss classes for games, practice and Sometimes meetings and not be held accountable for the grades they did not receive, test, and attendance. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) noticed that Student-Athlete was earning grades and credit they did not deserve because they never functioned as the course of study such as they never attended class, so they did not know what was going in class because they were not present that day. Head Advisors and students tried to out cheat and look over the principles of the NCAA. They design the NCAA for college athlete scholars it is offered by universities, but these regulations do not Act as they should. They can earn a passing degree because the professors are more lenient with the Athlete-Student than ordinary students that don’t engage in sports. Simons, Herbert D., et al., “The athlete Stigma in Higher education” students that write a college Student journal and attends University of California, and Harvard University acknowledges the treatment that college athletics get they believe “Thus, there is an understandable resentment of athletes who admits with lower academic qualifications by non-Athlete students who worked so hard to gain admission to the University. Besides High negative Perceptions of athletes by students reported by the athletes, a numeral of the reported comments by students shows this resentment” (Simons, Herbert., Et al.). An average college Student should feel like he or she is being treated equally such as adding on points to a grade or making up a missed day of class same as an Athletic player. A college Athlete should take responsibility for his or her academic grades and attendance.

Although, college athletes differ from the college students because they receive a different type of Admissions and Scholarships. May one might get offered a partial scholarship for having in High ACT score and GPA while the other one gets a Full ride scholarship for just playing sports. Simons, Herbert D. Argue that “there is intense competition to gain admission to the University with over five thousand students with 4.0-grade point averages rejected every year” (Simons, Herbert D., et al.). Athlete students receive Full-ride Scholarships without having to pay out of pocket, which makes them fully covered by the whole time they attend that college, but a non Athlete Student that does not meet the qualifications for sports or not involved in any sports has to pay full tuition. Some college students do not get accepted into the University they were seeking to attend to because they did not get accepted or do not have cash in hand to pay for it.

College players are receiving certain privileges from Teachers without being noticed, which makes it immoral to the non-Athlete students. Teachers can show favoritism to their athlete’s students such as having a positive attitude towards to them, working with them on game days for they do not fail the class, and for so on. Fuller, Rhema, et al. “Perks for players: high school teachers’ perceptions of Athletic privilege” authors for American secondary Education, article Gave feedbacks from instructors about what they believe about having Special treatment, According to Teacher 27 in the article In Perks for players implies that, “Any individual who works hard performing exercises/skills that the general Student will not execute, while doing the same things, should get more benefits than the simple Student” (qt. In perks for players: high school Teachers’ teacher 27). It is essential that a non-Athletic Student that earns a 4.0 GPA and have met all the requirements to become admitted into the college should get the same treatment as the same as the Student-Athlete.

Have you ever sat at a game such as in baseball, Basketball, Football, or Soccer, any sport or in your house watching the NFL or college sports? Did you ever wonder where the ticket money goes to all the ticket selling and concession stands? We all realize that colleges make a dependable deal of profits from their athletes and the programs. I have a deep impression that all the money that’s taken from the ticket selling and concessions Is going back to the athletes, but then again, it could go to their equipment In some State universities and private colleges, of the Athlete’s students get paid for running sports such as football, basketball and so on. The advantages of this lead to Special treatment because no other Student on campus that does not play sports gets paid for their accomplishments, potential or talent. Maiorana states, “sometimes even this chicanery at the High school level isn’t enough, so University Athletic departments work with Admissions officers, and provosts and presidents, to let down the criteria to get deficient athletes admitted” (Maiorana). Colleges make an acceptance on the athletics they want and brides them with materials or money. Non-Athletic has much as a talent as the other students, but they receive nothing. At Mississippi State, their football coaches are offering players’ cars that“s fully paid off, Student apartments being paid for, and they are getting paid just to bet football. Maiorana states, “The list of violations is a broad-based, and Miami’s Shapiro is one hundred. Perhaps thousands, of people with illicit intentions. Four-year college athletes have been given merchandise ranging from iPods to automobiles; given monetary payouts anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to $50 handshakes in the quadrangle; or benefited when their parents were offered freed housing or unwarranted employment” (Mario ran). They treat student-athletes like royalty instead of making them earn it and molding for it the school and coach’s hands it to them who are unfair to the other pupils.

Other people think from the other side point of view; they claim college athletes may have Special prerogatives. The fan base of the college Athlete players says the students played hard to engender where they roost, and no free passes gave away. Fuller, Rhema, et al. Believes, “These educators believe Student-athletes deserved the privileges they received due to the additional time constraints put on them from their participation in sports” (fuller, Rhema, et al.). If one person receives Special treatment, then all should get Special treatment for their laborious work and talent. But not everyone thinks because some think college athletes deserve a full-ride scholarship just like any regular student. It will divide fuller, Rhema et al. States, “According to TPB when teachers have a favorable attitude toward the behavior. Roughly 60% of the respondents showed a positive disposition toward Athletic privilege” (Fuller, Rhema, et al.). Football players receive full ride scholarship determining on their skills and not their academic degrees. As a non-athletic student, I get good degrees, and all I receive is a scholarship, not an automobile or get paid besides getting student loans, I had to pay back. In many colleges, college jocks are in college for sports and not the education which makes the full-ride scholarship pointless of having because of the fame and privileges. They consider that college athletes should get paid because it is not a special privilege. Some student-athletes would say “It is not an Athlete privilege” or “The school officials offered them a car, full-ride scholarship, and money” to join their team. College should be fair to all college students and not just the athlete’s players because everybody deserves a chance and he or she has just as much talent as athletes. Some argue student-athlete deserves to have special privileges; some argued that student-athlete should not have it. In the article the authors Fuller, Rhema D., Et al. That wrote ” Perks for players.” High school teachers’ perceptions of athletic privilege,” opinion was these educators believed student-athletes deserved the privileges they received due to the additional time constraints placed on them from their participation in sports” (Fuller, Rhema, et at.) Every student that attends high school or college deserves the same treatment not only just the athletes because it makes it unfair to other students that attend class, hard-work, and earn the grade they work. In the article ” Perks for players.” High school teachers’ perceptions of athletic privilege,’ by Fuller, Rhema, et al. Gave feedbacks from teachers, According to teacher 27, “Any individual who works hard performing exercises/skills that the general student will not do, while doing the same things academically, should receive more benefits than the simple student” (Teacher 27). I suggest that every student should have the same treatment which is working hard for the grades and attend class.

Communities, universities and private colleges Sometimes make exceptions to their institutional, educational principles and offer scholarships to players they know can help them win games, tournaments, and playoffs. In non-athlete student does not accept this treatment they suffer from playing strong for their scholarships, grades, attendance in class and so on. Special privileges should not be for athletes, but it should be for all.

Should Athletes Who dope forfeit their Titles and Medals? Some people think that they should not, because the athletes work hard to keep their reputation, they are expected to be good at any sports, and that puts pressure on them that they have to be better and that leads to serious matters, they want something that can come to their nerves and be good at the sports activities they play, and the only thing to do is to dope.

I disagree. They need to have their medal forfeited especially if it was found out and supported, evidenced that they were under drugs when they go to them. Drugs for whatever reason may take them is medically proven to enhance one’s physical attributes. So, it is unfair to other athletes who also trained and work hard for the sport’s competition. In addition, certain sports events have requirements and screening like a contestant should not be qualified if he or she is with drugs, So that is a clear violation of the rules. They need to surrender their recognition because in the first place they are not meant to be qualified, right?

It’s essentially cheating inside the game they play. Performance improving steroids are unfair in all sports, they are unfair due to the fact it offers the consumer a higher hand on the relaxation of the competition, making the consumer bigger, faster, and stronger. That’s no longer true to the relaxation of the competition. All sports activities ought to be herbal coaching athletes going head-to-head with equal odds of who wins and who loses. Not “super athletes” who use capsules towards natural, felony athletes. Steroid use in sports activities needs to permit the person of the capsules to be stripped of every title they gained whilst the use of the drugs. I mean What’s the factor of competition if nothing is fair? The entire factor of the Olympics of its all about breaking records? If that was the case, “then“ all athletes would use dope, there would be motors for bicycles, all due to the fact it is about breaking records. But that is no longer the case, it’s the competitive, tremendous strength it creates in the surroundings of the sport. Breaking all types of exceptional archives is exciting harming capsules is now not how they ought to be broken.

For all of this reason, the use of steroids or any different performance-enhancing capsules in all aggressive activity ought to be unlawful from the Olympics football, weightlifting to golf. Doping ought to by no means be allowed, and all athletes who use dope to beautify their overall performance ought to be stripped of their titles. Whether it is a man or woman activity or if one character in a crew is using. All doping instances ought to have their awards taken away as if they have been by no means received in the first place.

Sports scientists play a major role in the development of athletes in elite sports teams. Sports scientists come in multiple forms such as physiotherapists, nutritionists, strength & conditioning coaches and sports dietitians. They each impact the teams in unique and insightful ways. In this report references will be made to the unique responsibilities attached to the different variations of sports scientists within an elite group.

“A major objective of sports scientists and elite coaches is the enhancement of athletic performance.” (Williams, 2007). Within an elite sports team, the main goal within the group is to improve throughout the season and to be as successful as realistically possible. Sports scientists form a bond with the athletes as they strive to improve them both physically and mentally. Nutritionists are inducted into team set-ups to introduce planned meals at regular intervals in an attempt to improve the intake of the players in terms of carbohydrates, proteins and other biological molecules. However, we are in a digitalized era where Google is visited more frequently than a dietitian or nutritionist in search of a ‘quick-fix’ solution. Results found in a survey carried out in Australia in accordance with a sample of 410 athletes involved in sports teams found:

“Forty‐four per cent of athletes reported having previously received advice from a dietitian. 20%, 19% and 16% of athletes chose “dietitian”, “internet” and “nutritionist” as their preferred source of nutrition information, respectively.” (Trakman, et al., 2019)

Both strength & conditioning coaches and physios aim to prevent injuries. In an article published on the British Journal of Sports Science website, Coles says:

“There are numerous factors that influence injury rates in elite sporting teams, and many of them are intricately related. To achieve sustained success in decreasing injury rates, we must understand not only each of those potential factors in isolation, but also the relationships that exist between them. Rarely is one session, or one event, the true isolated cause of an injury. Typically, there has been a confluence of many events over time, which has led to the pivotal point where one event then simply becomes ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back”. (Coles, 2018)

This article written by Coles in 2018 was intriguing as many may people see injuries as a result sudden impact or incident. While this may be the case in some extremely rare cases, they are, for the most part, as a result of progressive degradation of the muscle or tissue which has been damaged. For this reason, physiotherapists are extremely important in the staff of an elite sports team in order to prolong the players careers and improve their durability throughout the season by decreasing injury rates within the team. For similar reasons, strength & conditioning coaches are equally important in the prevention of unnecessary injuries in a player’s career. Results show that the strengthening of muscle fibres and prevention of injuries is essential as the “confluence of many events over time” (Coles, 2018) is the main cause of the injury occurring in the first place.

In conclusion, it is a fair and reinforced statement that sports scientists have a key role in elite sports teams. Whether they are involved to mentally prepare the athletes or to physically prepare them, they are an essential part of the squad’s staff. They work coherently with the athletes on a regular basis which helps prepare them for games and training. Better preparation leads to improvement in the results sector and for this reason it is easy to see why they are integrated in elite sports teams both locally and on the international stage.

When an event occurs there are many consequences that impact both positively and negatively. Within this essay, there will be a review of impacts from sports events as well as current trends and different characteristics. The events that will be explored include Wimbledon, a professional tennis tournament, the London 2012 Olympics, where different countries compete within specific sporting events to rank for bronze, silver and gold and the Tour de France which is a 23 day cycling race that deciphers cyclists ability to cycle long distances and to achieve the title of yellow jersey. Also including The Southend RNLI Boxing Day Dip which is a fundraiser for the RNLI.These events are connected through sporting skills and sporting abilities but have different structures keeping them as individual events.

The characteristics a sports and leisure event possesses from [Bowdins 2012] point of view included the participant’s. If there was no participant’s, attendees would not come to the event as they have come to see something such as a show, activity or competition. As participant’s make up the whole event it is crucial they are included, thus coming to see an event makes the attendee a participant just as much as the people performing. Participating in ‘The Southend RNLI Boxing Day Dip’ is different from going to the Tour de France as all participants would be doing the activity instead of the main athlete’s who the participant’s want to see. [Bladen et al 2017] views participants as one of the key characteristics for an event from the competitors to the media. Without participant’s, an event of a mega-scale such as the 2012 London Olympics or even the Tour de France would be improbable. Having participant’s engage with all elements of the event helps the event to grow, evident through the Tour de France which first occurred in 1903 with only 60 cyclists, compared to 2019 when there were approximately 200 cyclists [BBC Newsround 2019] as a result of media, spectators and sponsors.

However, an important characteristic is ‘Sports event format’ [Bladen et al 2017] which is used for marketing the event as when people plan to attend the event, the timescale is needed to make arrangements such as travel to-and-from the event, as well as a place to stay if travelling a long distance. For example, If an attendee is visiting solely for Wimbledon 2019, their stay may be shorter compared to a person visiting multiple events at the 2012 London Olympics. Therefore, highlighting the importance of making the sports event format clear to the consumer purchasing tickets to see these events.

Another characteristic of both a sports and leisure event is the venue [Bladen et al 2017] and if an event is occurring it has to have a location. Moreover, having a venue means a place for all of the participant’s to go for that particular event. However, the venue of any event does not have to be in a typical building, the event may be hosted in several locations such as large national parks or even by the seafront. Furthermore, having many different venues allows the organisers of the event to branch out further and appeal to a wider target market of attendees. ‘The Southend RNLI Boxing Day Dip’ [RNLI 2019] is a sports event on a seafront which appeals to many people as it raises money for a deserving charity. It is a popular event because it combines sports with leisure in an easily accessible venue. Therefore, by utilising a unique venue, it makes an event more appealing due to increased charisma whilst also being a unique experience for people. Events such as the London 2012 Olympics had a purpose built venue as London was not built for the mega event. The games used a brownfield site in Stratford London and hoped that the London 2012 Olympics would rejuvenate and bring life to the run down area. Having built “the Village”, which was an accommodation provided for the athlete’s, this space is now used as apartments/ housing for local residents of the area. The Orbit Tower was built as part of the venue for the Olympics as a sculpture to remember the Olympics. Thus, this part of the venue was to keep the legacy of the London Olympics alive and is now used as an attraction, making the sculpture sustainable. Additionally, an event such as Wimbledon 2019 is known for the location, with the event name being synonymous with the location. Most people know of Wimbledon from the tennis tournaments instead of anything else. On the other hand, the Olympics are known to move country every time they are held in which various cities bid for the Games as they are aware of the economic benefit and hope to bring this to their nation.

According to [Getz 1949], some positive impacts that the London 2012 Olympics have left on society include ‘providing low-cost housing in refurbished athlete villages, engaging children and people with special needs in activities and causes, raising money for charities, or providing inspiration and hope for the downtrodden.’ As well as questioning the social impacts, being aware that not all consequences of mega events are positive as [Getz 1949] states ‘are poor people displaced and the homeless rounded up because image is all? Is spectacle and world-class entertainment good for people, or a way to keep them passive?’. This enables the understanding that out of multiple impacts they can be both positive as well as negative. During the tournaments at Wimbledon 2019, a positive impact the games had was it brought the local community together and has a more positive atmosphere compared to winter seasons, not just at the venue but other areas within Wimbledon.

A positive economic impact that [Li and Jago, 2019] has observed is that ‘major sports events can generate in attracting visitors and event-related construction investment’ meaning that not only the event owners make a profit but the local community. The local community can benefit as there is a greater need for employment to do with sports events. In breaks or gaps between performances, audiences tend to purchase beverages and snacks. There is a need for people in the local community to fill these roles to give the attendees what they desire so the event can run smoothly. However, having provided certain snacks for the event which appeal to a large crowd of people worldwide such as at the 2012 London Olympics means the location of the event loses authenticity. Furthermore, as prices are inflated food and other amenities lose local charm. This was in hopes of pleasing attendees so they feel accommodated and welcomed. Meaning that people would want to return for another event; not necessarily the charm of the local town. Another impact from an event is profit. Events are primarily used to make a profit for businesses and the event owner but it is also used for fundraising. ‘The Southend RNLI Boxing Day Dip’ [RNLI 2019] is a sporting event to help fundraise for the RNLI for future use of the service. Moreover, other events also act as fundraisers for deserving charities for different purposes.

Environmental impacts can have a positive impact or a negative impact. An event such as the ‘Tour de France 2019’ has less negative impacts compared to an event of a larger scale such as the 2012 London Olympics. Having a smaller audience for these types of events means environmental impacts are easier to control. Although, a simple task such as recycling at the ‘Tour de France 2019’, a high profile event, has multiple schemes in place to help clean up litter during the competition. Additionally, if not all litter is disposed of correctly then people in the local community have the chance to gain employment, so all litter is eventually disposed of in the right manner. However, the 2012 London Olympics was on a much larger scale so was not able to have the same level of care for litter management. Another positive environmental impact is exemplified from Wimbledon 2019 where the use of cups for ‘strawberries and cream’ which were ‘made from 70% recycled plastic’ [Siddique, 2019] had a positive impact as it is a very famous snack, for it to be developed enough to use sustainable crockery.

A key trend that should be carefully considered about an event is sustainability, with awareness of this trend gaining prominence because of climate change. Having sustainable components of major or mega-events is highly important in helping to reduce single-use plastic wastage and light, noise and water pollution. Wimbledon 2019 reduces plastic due to not using plastic racket covers meaning ‘there will be 4,500 fewer plastic bags used’ whilst also using ‘environmentally friendly’ clothing [Siddique, 2019]. The 2012 London Olympics was also ‘the first Olympic Games to measure its carbon footprint’ [International Olympic committee 2020]as they wanted to achieve ‘zero waste’ [International Olympic committee 2020] and hit that target. The Tour de France 2019 also supported the trend of sustainability by ‘encouraging responsible buying’ [around Sustainable Development, 2019]. This aim helps reduce the wastage that could be easily avoidable if the customer really considers all aspects of the product they wish to purchase, from reusable elements to disposable parts of the product. By doing this, the ‘Tour de France 2019’ reduced significant one-time-use plastic. An event such as ‘The Southend RNLI Boxing Day Dip’ [RNLI 2019] does not put as much strain on disposable resources as most people attend to brave the cold water which does not need to use single use materials, helping with the trend of sustainability to continue to make a stronger mark to help the environment.

Another trend that sports events now follow is to leave a legacy. Leaving a legacy means that events can be repeated as people will still care for them. The Ancient Greek Olympic games left a legacy that has continued from 1894 when the idea was first presented and then conducted in 1896 carried on to this day showing how important a legacy can be. Hence why this current trend is an aim for all current events, having people talk about the event is another way to publicise it, as well as keeping the legacy alive. After hosting an event alliances are formed from a ‘shared experience’ [Bowdin 2012] which is a positive impact as it brings people closer together. This would be either working at the event together or attending the event. Despite the fact that a mega-event definitely brings people together it can lead to bad behaviour from different reactions from one outcome of the event, or from consuming too much alcohol at the event venue leading to rowdy behaviour and a strain on the emergency services. People have a desire to go to sporting events such as Wimbledon 2019 because of the reputation the legacy has left behind. Additionally, Wimbledon is seen as one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world. Thus, showing the aspirations to visit the event and to be able to say that the participant was involved with this event.

To conclude, all sports events have impacts, including those which benefit the environment down to consequences that disrupt the community. These events do benefit the nation [where taking place] which is why the public like to have them repeated in the same location or others. Sports events have impacts on the community, society and the economy, there are many impacts some may change the city in a negative way or could improve the city. Characteristics make up the event which is why it is majorly important to have participant’s, sports event format and a venue to keep the structure of the event in order. Different trends in sporting events include sustainability enabling participants to understand the need for resources that do not run out.

This is my journey of when I decided to switch sports, which ended up being one of the best decisions of my life. However, I picked enjoyment at the end of it. The switch from football to table tennis was going to be hard as I loved playing football but I knew it was the right thing to do to. When playing table tennis, I was getting better and better each time I went but when I played football, I was feeling like I was not going to achieve much.

The football team I was playing for was Lochar Thistle I had played for them since I was the age of 5 and I left the club at the age of 12. I played right full back the whole of that season as that’s where I played my best football. Therefore, to be in that position I had to be strong in the tackle which I was and could always get forward from defensive positions. I could also always put a decent ball in the box. Being part of a team is a thing you miss even just things like the banter in the changing rooms and we were the best team in our league (as we were top of the league for the majority of the season). I believe we were unbeaten as well. We had a good team spirit as we believed we would win any game we went into the confidence was high. To quit football was a major decision for me but my Dad and I knew it was the right decision.

How I started to get into table tennis was by playing the game on holiday with my dad in Majorca. I thought to myself ‘I quite like this’ and so I said to my dad and he revealed there was a table tennis club on Shakespeare Street in Dumfries. I was about 11, coming 12, at this point, so when I came home from Majorca my dad took me to the table tennis club. From then on I started going on Friday nights while still playing football. I played both of the sports for a good year. As I progressed getting better and better at table tennis that’s when football became a problem because I was starting to play more and more nights and discovered that if I wanted to make it to the next level, then I needed to choose football or table tennis the decision I then made was table tennis.

The choice I made was a really important one because football is what I enjoyed doing for most of my life but table tennis was the sport I could achieve something from. From the day, I quit football, I ended up playing table tennis 3 to 5 times a week and improving week after week-getting better and better. My coach, Dylan de Silva, trained me to become an attacking player: to have power in my shots and so in training, I had to put in the work fitness and skill-wise.

As I got into a decent level of the game, my coach decided I should go and play competitions and get experience from them. These were competitions in Scotland; I was already the best player for my age in Dumfries. I won a few competitions, kept getting better and I felt I could go on and be a player at a high level. My dream was obviously to play for Scotland, which was a big target to aim for, but I had to aim high. Each year at the club championships, I won around five trophies, as I was now one of the best players in my club. When I was 13, I won most improved player out of the whole club. In that year I won all of my games in division 2 (40/40) so people at the club moved me up to division 1. I was delighted about having a tougher challenge in front of me. Not only did I just get into division 1 I got put with the best player in the club and we became partners with which was Danny Bajwa. We won the league that year and I won most of my games. As a pair, we won all of our league games.

I am hoping to get into the Scotland team this year as I was chosen to go to the Scotland junior training and around the same time got into the top ten in Scotland for cadet boys (under 15 boys). At the end of that year, I was missing playing football so I decided to make a change.

This change was a massive decision for me, as I believe enjoying yourself is more important in your childhood than doing a sport you may be better at but not enjoying yourself doing that particular sport. The decision I made was to switch from table tennis back to football. One reason I decided this was to go back to playing sport with my friends and just to play football the game I loved. It was tough after having putting a lot of work into table tennis but I just fell out of love with the sport, I was uninterested in table tennis at the end. I was eager to get back into football so I asked my dad and he did not approve at first but eventually let me join football again. The game I have loved all my life I finally played again. I am sure I will still play a bit of table tennis at some point in the future. I am happy with all the decisions I have made, am happy I had decided to switch to table tennis as it made me realise how much I love football. I now play for Terregles AFC in the Dumfries and Galloway football league.

In today’s’ culture, we generally tend to determine and observe what the children want to do the most. Many of them are love to do playing gadgets rather than playing toys or play outside. Sadly to say, that most of the youngster now are always want to remain inside their home all day and every day just to play video games than to play outdoor or doing physical activity with other kids. These are the negative effects of their engagement on technology. Because the generations are changing most of the kids now are only focus on using technology unlike before. Due to technological advances, the development of children’s social skills or communication skills is very slow. Because physical sports are sometimes only imposed in schools, and they’re not introduced to outdoor activities or sports, it gives long-run consequences or effects on the child’s growth.

All kids and parents should know that sports is an experience that can change a kid’s lifestyle, includes a great impact on the kid’s character or behaviors. To help children not to be addicted to gadgets or technology, parents should push them and engage them to do more important things like being involved in sports not only inside the school but also everywhere and anytime. We all know that distractions of technology for kids are always around them and always available and easy to access.

Introducing sports to kids at their young age can also affect their mental health so it can help them to know how to choose and how to decide what they want to do. They’ll find out to be more self-motivated. Playing sports helps them also to line their goals for themselves as setting goals is always part of playing sports. Of course, being engaged in sports promotes better health for kids. If a child is engaged in sports and she or he is going to practice every day it allows them to stay exercised and remain self-motivated.

The physical activity or sports have a huge effect not only on children’s development and physical health but also on their mental health as well. By engaging the kids in sport, we can see the positive effects that can happen. Now, we will concentrate on these 3 positive effects of Sports in physical health, mental health, and social skills of the children.

First, sports can provides an optimistic effect on the physical health of kids. For the sustenance of the physical development of the children, they should have a balanced diet, balanced lifestyle and active exercise every day like sports. Being engaged in sports we can see that there are physical benefits that give impact on children like stronger muscles, bones, and joints, their hearts can be stronger also, their body fats can also be controlled, kids may also have a lower chance to be sick, and their fitness can also be improved. Meaning sports can make all kids not only to be fit but also to be healthy.

Next is the impact of sports on kid’s mental health. Along with the physical benefits, the mental benefits of sports are similarly imposing. When we are physically active surely our mental health is also well. Sports can avoid the chance for kids to have depression and anxiety. We know that nowadays depression and anxiety can happen in all ages. As the sport has an impact on mental health, it is also a great thing to do to help children fight the feeling of depression or anxiety. Sports tend to increase the probability of children staying lively, letting them sleep better and keeps them mentally sharp. Improved physical activity levels directly relate and give the motivation to have good academics performance.

Lastly, sport affects the social development of the kids. Sport can not only help inspire and encourage children to be more physically active but also teaching them valuable skills and life lessons that they can carry with them until the time of maturity. We know that growing up can be challenging, leaving many kids with a sense of insufficiency but the sport has been found to help increase and boost their self-worth and self-confidence. Sport does also to helps keep children improve socially. This help children to do their best and engage in friendly or welcoming competition. As mentioned before, playing sports is a good way to maintain a kid’s health in good conditions and have a better outlook on their body image. Playing your finest and winning, creates a sense of achievement hence modeling your self-esteem. Participating in sports and being part of any group provides a sense of belonging which improves their social skills. Being exposed and engaged to other children from different backgrounds allows the kids to be diverse. These connections and communications allow friendships which help make children more sociable and outgoing. Sport more exactly can have an even bigger impact in the areas of growth or improving social skills in the process. Social skills that are learned or improved through sport while assisting children in growing into successful ones include communication, ability to follow rules, fair play, teamwork, independence, respect for others and leadership.

Sports is the applicable way to keep children active but they offer several benefits that expand much beyond those benefits. It does not only support children in their growth process but stretches them to have essential skills to be positive and successful in their future life.

Based on the above effects of sport in a kid’s life, there is no hesitation in the fact that sports are important and designed to build a positive character in children. Also, it is important to let your child find out and explore other exciting things too in sports and let them see the values and importance of sports for themselves. Moreover, parents should always encourage their kids to actively join in outdoor physical activities and pursue any sport of their choice. Besides, one of the most important qualities that sports enhance in every child is the team spirit and moral values through fair and friendly play. Lastly, always remember that sport is an inexhaustible source of inspiration and happiness for kids.

The basis of my paper is why diversity is not very common in the sports managements and ownerships. The majority of ownerships are held by white families. Not all are owned by families but quite a few of them are. I strongly believe this is the case because of the oppression and stigma that has been created over hundreds of years. Money is a major contributor to an owner, and you cannot own a professional sports team solely if you do not have 200 million plus. Money makes things possible in the world of sports, then again it is a business. In the NFL, 22 of the 32 total teams in the NFL have been owned by the same family for 20 years or more. This just goes to show that families are not willing to let teams go so easy. This creates even less wiggle room for a minority coach to move up in the ranks, because when the positions do show themselves, they are jumped on by hundreds if not thousands of other men and women. Another striking fact about the NBA is how of the 30 teams, there are just three minority owners. Now two of these owners are not African American and the lone one that is an owner, is Michael Jordan. Although in professional sports the percentages tell us there are a little than fifty percent of African Americans that are in other management positions within teams. Knowing these facts, when there are positions to be filled the likely hood of a minority person to obtain that position is low, based on evidence.

Owners have an extremely hard time of letting go of teams because of the revenue they pull in. Millions and millions of dollars are made by organizations every year. With money like that, not many would ever want to walk away. This is where it gets interesting when it comes to selling the franchise, when positions are available to be filled by potential candidates. For a long time now, minority candidates did not have to be included in these interviews. Long time owners were allowed to decide who would be the best potential fit with no back lash. This goes to show why high manageable positions are held by mainly whites, while lower positions in the managing sector were filled by minorities, for example blacks. Throughout my paper, I will be exploring the avenues of the why racial diversity is limited in the world of sports through the eyes of the coaches and ownership roles. I will discuss these sectors through the history of societal system, and the exclusiveness of these operations.

The central idea why blacks are not incorporated into big decision management roles is simple, prejudice and predisposed ways. I cannot say this is true for every white coach or owner, but universally this is most professional sports in a nutshell. If you’re a sports fan, it is no surprise when I say that white men carry more executive, but why? Take for example, Pittsburg Steeler’s coach Mike Tomlin, he is a African American man who has been a successful coach for 13 years in the league. The upside to this, as a General Manager, it shows that if an African American individual is having tremendous triumphs as a coach, why not hire this man who happens to be a minority. Does this tell us that skin color predicts his successes or is it his undeniable playmaker as a coach? The same goes for an unsuccessful coach who happens to be a minority, if his career as a coach is very substandard, that often reflects to other current owners. You do not want a guy who has created very little around him, regardless of skin color. Only if that was the truth, that skin color wasn’t a sought-after attribution in management roles. There is a stigma that has grown in hiring a minority owner. In the journal article, Race Relations Theories: Implications for Sports Management, it is said, “The theory of social distance is a useful tool for explaining the lack of racial diversity in the leadership of sport…Because sport institutions are close-knit, fraternal communities where intimate interactions are required (Smith, 2011). Let me first address the social distance theory which I think is an alternative way of assessing diversity. For example, a survey was done and asked people whether they would be okay if a person of color moved next to them in their neighborhood or started a new job at their office. The individual’s answers were yes, I would be comfortable with that. The study shows prejudice has declined over the years, but has it really? This is true for sports management. Men who are currently in positions of command create close relationships with players and other coordinators, for example in the NFL. These relationships require both side of the parties to open themselves to new opportunities and be neutrally diverse. Social distance theory is a prime example, when an owner such as Wayne Weaver who previously owned the Jacksonville Jaguars, sold the team to Shahid Khan a Pakistan born individual. Weaver had to had form a bond with Mr. Khan to be able to sell the multi-million-dollar team to him, or could it just be that Khan was willing to give an enormous amount of money to Weaver. In this context, overall business is churned by establishing connections with potential clients.

Moreover, in a glimpse of the past, according to the Race Relation Theory by Earl Smith, there was a shift white ideology back in the 1900’s for parents and they wanted their kids to attend neighborhood schools. They developed a new system about race, because the idea of segregated schools was no longer expressed. These parents pushed for community schools, so their kids could walk to school, ensuring a safe environment. On the face, this had nothing to do with Race, but it had everything to do with it. Since segregation was falling, whites wanted to introduce another way to segregate without deliberately boasting it. In modern times now, kids are going to public schools in neighborhoods that are not as racially diverse as public city schools. Without being exposed to diversity one can see how that would that translate to the future, and in college. This is transparent in the sports world, since African Americans are not always held in powerful positions. Coaches and officials are open to African American athletes to play for them, even if it contributes to winning, but when it comes to team dinners, fundraisers, and commemorations, the distant feeling becomes evident. For instance, in the article High School Football and the Athletic-Market economy, “…it appears players are not only being recruited from low income, predominantly Black, urbanized communities and schools. Players are being recruited from a wide variety of neighborhoods” (Macaulay, Cooper, 2019). Not only does this quote provide insight on recruitment, it encapsulates how minority athletes are more prevalent for their work ethic. One can sit here and think this is very good for sporting culture with the amount of diversity professional sports holds, but this is said for players not coaching. To bring back the concept of neighborhood schools, kids growing up were not pushed to assimilate. Assimilation in my own thought, is the single most depleting issue there is of society. Kids were taught and pushed by their parents to congregate with kids of their own race. When you are a child, you do not have the cognitive capability to distinguish race of their own up until around 12 years old. That being said parents are able to mold kids into their own personal views for at least a decade, and that is what was going on in the 1900’s and now. Society was shaping life around race and might open new doors to prejudice. This is not new information, but it is a way of looking at the discrimination in an unaccustomed way.

In reference to sports culture, I believe this has direct correlation to assimilation of men and women in management. In the NBA, players of color are common, and coaches of color have also increased over the years, thanks to Adam Silver the commissioner. Respectively, after examining an article from ESPN the holy grail of sports, it said as follow, “At the start of the 2018-2019 season, more than 33 percent of NBA teams had head coaches of color. Although the number of assistant head coaches of color decreased from the previous season, the total percentage is more than 42 percent. The NBA also saw the number of players of color increase from 80.7 percent to 81.9 percent this past season” (Lapchick, 2019). This is clear that the percentage colored people has increased slightly from 2018-2019. This idea that black athletes’ make up much of the NBA is a fact, and on the reciprocal end, coaches of color aren’t in such of a mass amount. Some but many do not fill positions like chief executives and presidents of teams, and that is one of the problems Adam Silver has an issue with. It is not an easy task incorporating diversity in this case, because many white officials do not let it happen so swiftly. They are so accustomed to their life in sports, that many owners expect it to stay that way. The intention of their routine life may be to keep values from overlapping. From a historical end, many people who own sports organizations who have immense amount of money are the final say when it comes to their team.

By now, history has written itself and proved that this elite club the National Football league holds is underlining the fact of discrimination and prejudice that occurred well before my time. Notice how in the NFL there is no African American owner of a team. In my many journal articles I’ve read quite a few of them that have revolved around a similar point, a close-knit fraternity. These ownerships are of these organizations are nothing short of glamorous. Owners take pride in their monumental billion-dollar industry, and at what cost? The deterrent of some minority individuals. The facts I bring up are not bias but intended to be what is actually occurring in the real world of sports. An average NFL team is worth close to 3 billion dollars, and according to Forbes there is about 5 African American billionaires in the United States. What this is telling is the scarcity of insanely rich African Americans. To bring back to my focus, the understanding of the oppression needs to be understood at a historical level. In our class book Race, Racism, and Science, by Jackson and Weidman, discusses the exploration of Racism over centuries of scientific research from French, British, American, and countless other scientists and philosophers.

One fundamental aspect that captures the unity of sports is the pact into the “fraternity”. I would like to tie in essential information about book and the proposal of fraternity, to show an alternate schema of thinking. What I am really focusing on is the colonial power and how immense it was to control various regions in society. According to Franz Fanon, he argued colonial power structure caused damage to individuals mentally based on social structure. The reason for incorporating him was because I thought that was a very engrossing comment to say towards the one that holds power. In other words, he is saying this is what created revolutions, and in a dimensional way, the world of sports is loosely experiencing something similar. In these modern times, Professional sports is getting widely publicized for the lack of minority ownership, especially the NFL. The structure of the league is based upon cash flow, it is a business and it is there for players to compete. These athletes are rewarded with salaries, but the major capital is delivered to executives. In the journal, Bad Sports: How owners Are Ruining the Games We Love, “Washington Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder’s refusal to change the team’s offensive name; and Donald Sterling’s racist approach to managing housing and the Los Angeles Clippers” (Zirin, 2010). The issues previously stated are ongoing currently to this day. These executives are the ones who dictates the atmosphere and decide who they want to surround themselves with to achieve success. Since these leagues revolve around money, they own the team’s future direction and how much fans have control, per say of a stadium relocation or team name. Moreover, I loosely compare it to the revolutions America was experiencing in the 20th century on some degree. My comparison is solely pointing at the fact of discrimination and prejudice becoming much more publicized, for example, movements such as Martin Luther king and Malcom X. These movements have brought attention to this delicate situation, and in professional sports the past decade has been receiving heat for lack of minority leadership roles available.

The time of age has now come for a change in pace of professional sports. The art of sports has drastically changed, and consumers want society to notice that. The structures are no longer poised to for the white cliental. Black athletes are increasingly dominating the league in terms of racial percentage, and voices want to be heard. The objective is to form more relationships and openings for minority individuals. An additional way this can be achieved is through previous athletes who become advocates for the movement. If minority athletes apply for coaching and executive position’s, they have a greater chance for their voice to be heard. A well respected former all-NBA caliber player could be the most essential way to cut out the discriminatory ways the country has seen in sports.

There have been many influences to the way sports are played today, and all of the sports you play, or even watch were played for the first time. Some of these tracing back all the way before 1400. The people back then might not have been playing it the same way we do today, but throughout the years, these sports have developed into what we know them as now. While some of them have become lost throughout these years, the remaining sports have developed substantially to develop into what they are today. The impact of these sports and the way that these early civilians played them greatly impacted the world and the way that we live in it. Although most sports, such as basketball or football, did not develop until the 19th or 20th century, many other sports have taken their origins from more primitive sports and pastimes of ancient times.

One of the oldest sports is wrestling, which dates back to fifteen thousand years ago in the French cave paintings. It involves grappling techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, used by one competitor on the other in order to assert their dominance. Wrestling is one of the oldest forms of combat that was included in the ancient Olympics as well, where it has held a prominent place in these games for hundreds of years. Another early form of combat includes boxing, where the earliest physical evidence came from the first known civilization, Samria, which is modern day Iraq. This evidence portrayed carvings, which are believed to have been made in the 3rd century BCE. It was eventually introduced by the Greeks in the 7th century during the ancient Olympic games, and has developed into what we know it as today. It would be interesting to see how a boxer from the 7th century would match up with a guy like Floyd Mayweather. I guess no one will ever know, but I would put my money on the 7th century fighter because back then, the two fighters would box with metal gloves with spikes usually until the death of one opponent. Nowadays, we use padded gloves, which still isn’t the safest, but metal gloves with spikes is just a whole different level of dangerous. That is how far we have come, though, because without deathly metal spike boxing matches, there would be no MMA or UFC or anything to do with that.

The Olympic games played a huge part in sport developing. It introduced many events including discus throwing, the long jump, running, javelin throw, and, of course, wrestling. These 5 events were called the pentathlon, and were all held in one afternoon. The Greeks admired the bodies of pentathletes, because they possessed the ideal combination of length, strength, speed and beauty. The discus throwing is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc (discus) in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. The early discs were made of unwrought bronze and iron and were apparently heavier than today’s competitive discus. This ancient sport, as demonstrated by the fifth-century-BC Myron statue Discobolus (back page), has not really changed much throughout the years. It still consists of many competitors achieving the goal of throwing the disc the longest distance. Yes, the way they dressed has changed, because the ancient Greeks, in fact, did not dress. They were competing all of their events in the nude, and I am pretty sure we have developed from that and glad we have because when I watch the Olympics in 2020, I do not want to see Usain Bolt running the 400m with no clothes on! Back to the point though, every sport develops in some way and discus has not developed as much as some of the others because it does not require much. Speaking of not requiring much, running is the next event that humans have been doing since existence. It became an actual competitive sport when the first ever Olympics were held in 776 BC. During the Greek era there were four kinds of running events that were organized. The stadion was the oldest form of running. Runners sprinted for 1, 2 to 24 stades. A stade was equal to the length of the stadium. It was basically a track in today’s running. One of the most famous runners in these Olympics was Leonidas of Rhodes. Leonidas captured the crown in three separate foot races — the stadion, the diaulos, and the hoplitodromos. The diaulos was the double course for foot races in ancient Greece in which the contestants ran down one side of the stadium, turned round a goal, and returned to the starting point, and the hoplitodromos The hoplitodromos was an ancient foot race, part of the Olympic Games and the other Panhellenic Games. It was the last foot race to be added to the Olympics, first appearing at the 65th Olympics in 520 BC. Leonidus repeated captured the crown in the next three Olympics, in 160 BCE, in 156 BCE, and finally in 152 BCE at the age of 36. Leonidas’s lifetime record of twelve individual Olympic victory wreaths was unmatched in the ancient world. Leonidus was the modern day Usain Bolt, setting unreal records at an unreal age. The last two sports are the javelin throw and the long jump.

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics event where a javelin is thrown by a competitor as far as possible, from the take off mark. The ancient Romans and Greeks were known to have used much lighter javelins than they are today, but they were not the first to throw a spear like pole. Ancient primitive hunters would use spears to kill animals for food. Then, the Greeks were the first recorded competitive use if the javelin in the pentathlon. Enough about javelins, the last sport in the pentathlon is the long jump, formerly known broad jump. The long jump, which is still in use today, was a sport in which athletes compete for supremacy by attempting to leap further distances from the take off point. Long jump was the only jumping event in the ancient Olympics. A major difference with the long jump today is that the Greeks held jumping weights of 1,5 to 2 kg in each hand. Thanks to these weights the athletes jumped further and landed more steadily. Experiments have shown that, with the modern jumping technique, the weights reduced the length of the jump and slowed the run up down. The Greeks clearly practiced a standing long jump, with their two feet together, in which case the weights do give them an advantage. Phayllos of Kroton was also a great pentathlete and one of the greatest long jumpers of these ancient times. He won twice in the pentathlon and once in the stadion. For these achievements he was honored with a statue at Delphi. His most known talent was the long jump. Once he jumped 55 feet (16.3 meters) and because the sandpit was only 50 feet (15.2 meters) long, he landed outside the pit. This achievement soon became proverbial. This jump, one of the few from Antiquity of which the exact distance is known, forms an important argument in the discussion whether the Greek long jump was a single or a multiple jump.

India is a country of more than 1 billion people, although, we hardly win any medals at Olympics games, and rarely win a gold medals, apart from cricket, most sports are largely neglected in our country, sports like football, hockey, tennis, and athletics are not given adequate importance. The government does not provide any funds for these sports and does nothing to encourage in these fields.

In India, sports other than cricket are not considered as a serious career. Today a young school going boy who is exceptionally good at football and has great enthusiasm for sport, is still discouraged by his parents, teachers from playing football for a living. This is because, they think that football is not a lucrative career option, as they that players don’t earn that much money. So, this is reason why a child is forced to give up what he loves and to focus on his education instead.

There are many talented youngsters in our country who have the potential to excel at international level. A 20 year old girl from Punjab Monika Batra won junior title in world table tennis championship. She also won the gold medal in Asian games 2018 by beating world’s 2nd best player of Japan. If we cheer for her like we do for our cricketers, then she would surely be motivated to perform better.

Consider football of which I am a big fan and there are many other like me. But I still dream of the day when India will be participating in the football world cup and I would be cheering for India, instead of just watching Brazil, Argentina, etc at world cup finals.

India is a country with great sporting tradition, there were days when we were world champions in Hockey. We won the Cricket world cup in 1983, and athletes like PT Usha and Milka Singh won medals at Olympics. I sincerely believe that with some efforts and hard work, the glory days will return. Now important thing is that how to overcome this problem? I believe gov should bring development in sports with innovative plans. In sept 2017, the union cabinet approved the Khelo India program at cost of rs 1756 cr. It aims that mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development, economic and national development.

Other than this, the system is providing financial assistance to NSE’s for supporting specially girls/women training and also participation at national and international level.

This will make us proud to be Indians, we will be inclined to support and cheer for our youngsters representing India in various International competition.

In conclusion, I would like to say that there is a tremendous untapped potential for growth of sports in our country and I hope one day India will become a great sporting nation and achieve high heights.

There are many reasons that people choose to play sports. Not only is good for your health, but it promotes teamwork and sportsmanship. These are both transferable skills which can be taken into different aspects of life, such as in the workplace and when studying. The discipline learnt when playing a sport is also a great life-skill to have. Sports is also a great way to socialise and make friends, that will most than likely have similar interests. This can be very helpful when trying to make friends, such as when starting university, as you will be able to meet people that already have a common interest to you. Furthermore, it can help individuals to learn to focus and to manage their time efficiently. This again is another transferable skill that is very valuable in places such as the workplace and when completing studies. (7 Good Reasons Teenagers Should Play Sports, 2020)

Advances in technology have had a profound impact on sports. There are four main areas I shall explore which have altered due to these technological advances. These include an improvement in analysis that therefore improves feedback given to athletes, an increase accuracy to measurements that also allows for the analysis of new data to be collected, allowing for replays and video-assistance in real-time that can make game-changing decisions, and lastly the improvement of sports equipment, both the designs and materials used. These are key areas because it highlights ways in which both the training regiments and the performance of sports has been influenced and affected by technology. (Sport Industry: The impact of technology on sport, 2020)

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) has allowed for athletes to be able to train using virtual scenarios and receive feedback almost instantaneously. This allows for an immersive experience which before the use of VR could not happen. By using VR, scenarios can also be repeated with a perfect accuracy, something that cannot be done in real life due to external factors. This allows for athletes to practice in these virtual scenarios without the need of a large sporting physical facility. Video playback can also be used to analyse athletes, but VR has many advantages over video playback. These include allowing for virtual environments that provide an immersive and more realistic experience. Also, VR can track an athlete’s head movement which allows for changing the viewpoint in the virtual environment which allows the athlete to feel as if they are really in that environment. Lastly, VR displays are stereoscopic, meaning that they provide a sense of depth, something that video feedback, which is 2D, lacks. An example in which this has been used is in rugby. Models are simulated running at the athlete, and they athlete needs to determine the direction that the animation is ‘running’, judging by their body movement and positioning. This can then be repeated, and the athlete’s prediction accuracy recorded. Although this article is from 2009, many of the ideas are still used, including with a lot of the same hardware, including VR headsets. The main changes have been in the software and the increase in how realistic the immersive experience is. (Using Virtual Reality to Analyze Sports Performance, 2020)

Further to the use of VR, there has recently been a lot of advancements in the use of wearables for the collection of data related to sports in order to help analyse athlete’s performance. This data can then be used as part of the coaching regiment to help improve athletes. The two main variables measured include kinetic (the motion in sports) and kinematics (the mechanics of the motion). There are many devices used to quantify motion in sports, including inertial measurement units, flex sensors and magnetic field and angular rate sensors. This paper concludes that there is an increased understanding, however it is not at a stage where it is ready for general use. There is potential that in the future, wearable technology may be used to monitor long-term in order for injury prevention which is a big issue at the moment, especially in higher levels of sports. Furthermore, if athletes were to be provided real-time data, this could influence the techniques used which could change the way some sports are played. Further to this, there has been advancements in time-tracking equipment. This has specially made a big difference in events such as short sprints, where even milliseconds can make a difference. (Using Virtual Reality to Analyze Sports Performance,, 2020)

Athletes are not the only people in sport who have been influenced by the advancements in technology. Officiating can be as challenging as doing the sport itself and has challenges such as not being able to be in the right place at the right time, or due to the speed some sports are now played. There is a large importance in reducing mistakes made by officials, and technology such as hawk-eye (used in tennis) and Goal-Line-Technology are commonly used to confirm or correct what could be game-changing decisions. Although there are clearly many positives of this, such as that decisions will always be correct, there are some negatives that come with it. Its main problem is the cost, for example, goal-line-technology used by FIFA costs £250,000 per ground in total. On top of this very high installation cost, it costs to use each match. (Williamson, 2020). Another technique being used in that has impacted technology is the use of video play-back during the match in order to check or adjust decisions made by officials. This currently known as Video-Assisted Refereeing (VAR) in football, or television match officials (TMO) in rugby. It is used by officials being able to stop and review what has happened during a match live in order to adjust decisions if needed. The main issue that a lot of both athletes and spectators have with such video assistance is that it disrupts the flow of the game. The high cost of such technologies means that they can only be used for professional level competition. This therefore means that despite the sport being played competitively at all levels, only the top gets the assurances that this technology provides. Many athletes believe that competitive sport should be the same at all levels that it is played. (The Use of Video Technologies in Refereeing Football and Other Sports)

As well as technological advances, there have also been many physical advances aided by technology. There has been both an improvement in the equipment used, for example, the materials have changed in pole vaulting poles, which have allowed for better jumps to be achieved. This can be shown by the figures of the Men’s Olympic pole vault records. In 1896, the gold medallist achieved 3.30m. This record was achieved with a fully wooden pole. AS different materials were used in sports, the solid wood poles were replaced with bamboo, as it is a much lighter material that can also flex well which helped pole-vaulters. By 1958, the record had increased to 4.80m. At this point, fibreglass poles were starting to be used, and this is sometimes considered as the start of a new era for pole-vaulting. The requirements that were needed were for the poles to be strong but yet lightweight, properties which are shared by other sports, such as tennis, for lightweight tennis rackets, hockey for light-weight yet strong and durable hockey sticks and cycling frames, to support the riders weight while being as light as possible. (Materials and technology in sport, 2020). Furthermore, the items physically worn by athletes have changed due to technology. These include running shoes for sprinters and swimming costumes for swimmers.

As with anything involving technology, there are some ethical issues to be discussed. With technology rapidly increasing, the amount of data being collected regarding sport is also increasing rapidly. This raises security and ethical complications. There are no regulations that address the use of biometric technologies in sports. Professional athletes have some sort of protection due to being considered as employees, but when it comes to student-athletes, there are no regulations in place. There are five main areas of concern, and these are the validity and interpretation of the data, increased surveillance and threats to privacy, risk to confidentiality and data security, conflicts of interests and coercion. (Tracking U.S. Professional Athletes: The Ethics of Biometric Technologies, 2020). Until safeguards are put in place for athletes, the parties gathering the data should be careful, always ensuring athletes have given explicit permission tor such data to be used.

In summary, I found an infographic which shows the many aspects that have changed in sports and sports performance due to technology. The eight ways summarised at the end of the infographic include the following; time-tracking systems which has improved, allowing better accuracy for records where small increments of time matter, such as sprinting and swimming. Clothing and equipment that has allowed athletes to achieve better results due to being able to make equipment that better suits each individual sport. Goal-Line Technology has allowed to accurately determine goals at football games. Video technology has been able to be used for video-assisted refereeing as well as using videos to help coach athletes. GPS tracking data has allowed for measurements to be taken that allow for analysis and coaching, with the use of devices such as wearables. Virtual imaging to help with coaching and to allow for better injury-prevention to take place. Accuracy decision such as Hawk-Eye have ensured that athletes are sure that sports are being played to the rules, as they rule out human error. Lastly, the coverage of sporting events has drastically increased, meaning sports is more available to watch around the word with internet on any device. (The Evolution of Tech in Sport | Hire Intelligence UK, 2020)

To conclude, the use of technology has impacted sports and sports performance both positively and negatively. The rate at which records have been broken over time has plateaued, and new world records are going to become more and more rare. This is due to athletes only being able to achieve their full potential, and this has meant that the full potential achieved by athletes has mostly been reached. Technology is now being a large contributor as to why records are still being broken. This is good for the sports industry as it keeps a captive audience and allows for the sport to remain popular. On the other hand, technology in sport must be closely watched as the advancements in technology are starting to mean that if not regulated, drastic changes to different sports could happen. This can be seen recently when full-body swimming costumes were banned in competitive swimming as it was considered as too much of an advantage. Researchers and athletes will do as much as possible in order to find technology and techniques to improve results achieved in sports, how-ever marginal they may be. (Technology in Sport – Is it Cheating?, 2012)