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Chapter 10. Basic Concepts of Sport. Sport – the Natural Religion. Novak (1976) describes sport as a natural religion based on qualities and characteristics fundamental to the experience How is sport a religion? Rituals, i.e., coin toss Costumes Sense of power outside of one’s control
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Chapter 10 Basic Concepts of Sport
Sport – the Natural Religion • Novak (1976) describes sport as a natural religion based on qualities and characteristics fundamental to the experience • How is sport a religion? • Rituals, i.e., coin toss • Costumes • Sense of power outside of one’s control • People who enforce rules • Teaches principles, i.e., courage
What is Leisure? • Can be viewed as an attitude of freedom • Often distinguished from work activities • Viewed also as discretionary time left-over after work
What is Play? • Sport is a manifestation of play • Characteristics of play represent a continuum such as: • Free • Uncertain • Governed by rules • Separate • Economically unproductive • Governed by make-believe Play is not trivial, but rich with psychological, sociological, and historical meaning
Caillois: 6 characteristics of play • Free (voluntary behavior) • Separate (conducted in places where the time and space limits are fixed), e.g., let us go to the gym and play BB for half an hour • Uncertain (evenly matched competition) • Economically unproductive • Governed by rules • Governed by make believe
Differences BetweenChild’s Play vs. Adult Play • Play is the most basic behavior in young children • Children’s continuum includes: turbulence, gaiety, spontaneity, diversion • Adults’ continuum includes: calculation, subordination to rules, contrivance and ritual One is not better than the other, however, as children grow and develop, their continuum goes toward the adult side
Games • Physical skill • Strategy • Chance
Games vs. Sports • There are no exact distinctions between the two terms • Three important areas of the concept “game”: • Games derive from play • Games involve competition • Game outcomes are based on skill, strategy or chance • Not all games are sports but all sports are a game
Games vs. Sports, cont’d • Sports are games involving skill and strategy • Sport games have primary and secondary rules • Sport games are classified into four categories: • Territory or invasion games • Target games • Court games • Sector games
Territory/Invasion Games • Goal is to invade the space of the opponent to score. • The use of goals or end zones are prevalent. • Games can vary in skill: use of arms, legs, stick implements. • Examples: football, ice hockey, soccer, rugby
Target Games • Primary objective is to propel an object with great accuracy toward a target or targets. • Examples: golf, bowling, horseshoes
Court Games • Primary objective is strategically propel an object in such a way that it cannot be returned by an opponent. • Examples: tennis, badminton, handball, squash
Sector Games • Primary objective is for one opponent to strike an object so as to elude defenders. • Examples: baseball, softball, cricket
Competition Concept • Rituals and traditions are easily seen • Strives to achieve an objective • Involves a state of rivalry
Roles that Contribute to Sports as an Institution • Codification of rules • Officials or referees • Organization and structure of sport teams, i.e., NCAA • Record keeping to measure performance • Dissemination of information to the public, i.e., newspaper
Aesthetics of Sports • One tries to find the beauty in sports, form sports, and other sports • Form sports: performers consciously work on achieving a physical form that is aesthetic • Examples of qualities are: harmony, form, dynamics, flow, gracefulness, rhythm, poise
Aesthetics of Sports, cont’d • Carlisle (1974) has suggested four types of beauty in other sports: • Well-developed physique • Well-designed play or execution of the maneuver • Dramatic competition • Unity of an entire performance
Ethics in Sports • How people behave or conduct themselves in particular situations, i.e., games or sports • Fair play: how a competitor behaves before, during and after competition • 19th Century concept from England, i.e., Arnoldism • Concept still permeates in our society today • Rule violations are meant to be enforced by officials or referees • Sports still can build character and teach important life lessons • However, sport can be corrupt and has the ability to teach negative lesson in life