Sociology of sport
This area of study discusses the positive impact sports have on individual people and society as a whole economically, financially, and socially.
[2] The emergence of the sociology of sport (though not the name itself) dates from the end of the 19th century, when first social psychological experiments dealing with group effects of competition and pace-making took place.
Some national sports like baseball in Cuba, cricket in the West Indies, and football in a majority of Latin American countries drive passion that goes past the ethnic status, regional origins, or class lines.
[4] There was controversy around the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, as the rhetoric and laws of the host country (Nazi Germany) encompassed, and indeed were largely based on, overt and extreme racism.
"[5] Adolf Hitler agreed with the proposition people who had ancestors who "came from the jungle" were "primitive because their physiques were stronger than those of civilized whites.
[7] The myth of "middle passage" posited only the most athletically able of black people were able to survive the slave trade and plantation work.
The psychological theory claimed that black athletes did not have the intellectual capacity to assume leadership positions in sports.
The "dumb jock theory" saw black people enrolling on sport scholarships as they were unable to find success in academia.
[9] Young African-Americans see sports as means of upward social mobility, which is denied to them through conventional employment.
[13] In team sports, white players are often placed in central positions which demand intelligence, decisiveness, leadership, calmness and reliability.
Black players are in turn place in positions that demand athletic ability, physical strength, speed and explosiveness.
[14] Female participation in sports is influenced by patriarchal ideologies surrounding the body, as well as ideas of femininity and sexuality.
Physical exertion inevitably leads to development of muscle, which is connected to masculinity, which is in contrast to the idea of women as presented by modern consumer culture.
[15] Television networks and corporations focus on showcasing female athlete which are considered as attractive, which trivializes the achievements of these sportswomen.
Group roles on match day are ceremonial, with specially robed people performing intense ritual acts.
[23] Erving Goffman drew on Durkheim's conception of positive rituals, emphasizing the sacred status of an individual's "face".
[24] Sport journalists, for example, utilize both the positive and negative rituals to protect the face of the athlete they wish to maintain good relations with.
Birrell furthermore posits sport events are ritual competitions in which athletes show their character through a mix of bravery, good play and integrity.
In modern society, relationship are organized to be as efficient as possible, based on technical knowledge, instead of moral and political principles.
Neo-Marxism sees sport as an ideological tool of the bourgeoisie, used to deceive the masses, in order to maintain control.
[33] Specialized division of labor force athletes to constantly perform the same movements, instead of playing creatively, experimentally and freely.
[39] This approach has been criticized for their tendency toward raw economism,[40] and supposing that all current social structures function to maintain the existing capitalist order.
Hegemony research describes the relations of power, as well as methods and techniques used by dominant groups to achieve ideological consent, without resorting to physical coercion.
Biopower centers on the political control of key biological aspects of the human body and whole populations, such as birth, reproduction, death, etc.
[52] Modern sport pedagogy fluctuates between strictness and freedom, discipline and control, but the hierarchical relations of power and knowledge between the coach and athlete remain.
[53] Segel claimed that the cultural raise of sports reflected the wider turn of modern society toward physical expression, which revived militarism, war and fascism.
[55] Tännsjö claimed that overly complimenting sport prowess reflects the fascistic elements in society, as it normalizes the ridicule of the weak and defeated.
Finn see footballers as socializing into a culture of quasi-violence, which accentuates different values than those in regular life.
For example, "stage fright," or nervousness and apprehension, can impact their performance in their sport, be it in a positive or negative way.
There are the professional athletes, the coaching staff, the referees, the television crew, the commentators, and last but not least, the fans and spectators.
