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Historical Issues in Sport. Population Recreation. Characteristics of Popular Recreation. Rural and Local:. Individual units of activity were limited to a small area. Games fixtures were very local due to limited transport.
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Historical Issues in Sport Population Recreation
Rural and Local: • Individual units of activity were limited to a small area. • Games fixtures were very local due to limited transport. • Local environment was used for activities and was responsible for the activity coming about – rivers and lakes for fishing, shooting took place on local estates. • Local fights took place.
Ritual and Festival: • Many of them were pre-Christian and had links with early pagan rituals from tribal origins. • Many ball games originated as ritualised representations of the sun. • When combats were no longer real they were acted out in mock warrior experiences. • Many pagan festivals were adapted by the church, for example, Christmastide, Eastertide and Whitsuntide.
Wagering: • There was a tradition of making any contest more exciting by putting a bet on it. • For the poor, winning a wager represented money for the family to live on. • The peasants owned and trained fighting cocks and dogs to wager on. • Prize fighters fought for large amounts of money and gained more money by wagering on themselves. • All sports with unpredictability, attracted the gambler.
Cruel and Violent: • Life in England in the 17th and 18th Century was a cruel place, death came from relatively minor injuries in a sporting context for . • Violence in prize fighting was reflective of lower classes willing to trade bodily punishment and risk of death for money in a sport that was corrupt. • Mob games were a battle field where casualties were part of the game.
Uncoded: • The majority of players were illiterate. • There were players and a crowd but little organisation . • Due to localised games all the players knew the regulations. • Rules were passed on from father to son.
Courtly and Popular: • In the 17th and 18th century there was a two tier class system, the peasants and the gentry. • Archery, hunting and real tennis were considered as courtly games. • Violent activities were not participated in by the gentry, but they were involved in wagering at such events. • The over riding feature of popular recreation in a two class society was the mutual support one group gave to the other to enable activities to take place.
Summary: • In synoptic terms it is important to recognise that rational recreational patterns were carried into the public schools by the boys attending these schools; that there was a gradual but incomplete transition from popular to rational recreation, linking the two inseparably; and that popular recreation persisted in many working class communities, particular in the play forms of young children.
Question: • Cultural Factors which influenced the development and relevant popularity of certain activities: • Social Class Constraints • Limited Communication • Localisation • Changing Attitudes of the Church • Occupations and Free Time • Limited Literacy and Publicity
What is the present day social class relationship in sport? • What are the major differences in terms of social characteristics and communications? • What is the impact on sport in this country?
