Steven AntlerACAD 1601Brian ThornSeptember 23, 2015Sport or WarThis essay is discussing the importance of sport in our culture and why people should play it. The definition of sports is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Alan Sillitoe states that sports are just a “means of war in a so-called time of peace.” This is an inaccurate quote because sports are not like war at all.
No one on the other team is dying and none of your friends are getting killed. Another reason people should play sports is because it is a good way to get exercise. Exercise is vital in life because if you do not exercise you will be unhealthy. Meeting new people in sports is good.
When you meet new people you sometimes form a bond with that person that can last a lifetime. Sports are an important aspect of culture. This is from the point that it brings us together as a family, makes us better people, and teaches us important life skills. This aspect of family is important because it helps us interact socially with people. This social aspect is by spending time with your teammates at games and practices. During games you work hard to win and help your fellow ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ succeed. While at practice you are helping your teammates get better and ultimately you want them to succeed. You want them to succeed because not only are they on your team but they are also some of the best people that you will ever meet.
Depending on the team and how many practices and games that you have you might see your teammates more than you see other friends. If your team goes on trips to tournaments you might have to room with some of your teammates. When you see these people this much more often than not they become like a family to you. Some people that played sports with those people are still friends with them many years after you played a sport with them.
If you like playing sports with them you will probably try to keep playing sports together. When you try out for a team it can be a nervous timed but if you know someone that is also trying out it can make the tryouts a lot easier and more fun. Playing sports can make us much better as a person.
Teamwork plays an important role in this. This is evident because you want to be successful in life. At the job you are doing there is probably a team that is helping to reach whatever goal that you are trying to overcome. If people do not show up to work there is a certain spot on the team that is not there.
This empty spot could contribute to poor efficiency because more people will have to be doing more things at a time. There might not be enough time in a shift to get everything done. This lack of time might cause you to fall behind. If you play on a team most of your teammates should not be thinking that it is all about them out there.
The players on a team should be focused on team success not on individual achievement. There is a really good quote that everyone has probably heard that “there is no I in TEAM”. This is an important quote because it is saying that even though you could be the best player in the world you cannot do everything yourself. Wayne Gretzky who has the most points in NHL history had 894 goals and 1963 assists. Even though he was one of the best players in the world he was part of a team. If you play as a team you will win more games than if you play as each individual person trying to increase their statistics. If all of the players on a team think about them first the team will not do well as a whole.
It might be great that you get a lot of points in a season but if your team has bad defense than you will not win many games.Life skills are a very important aspect of sports. This can be small skills or skills that will have a very big aspect on your future.
A big aspect on your future can be your social skills. If you are a shy person and you try out for a sports team you might get over your shyness by hanging out with teammates. If you are goofing off at practice your coach might make you do some punishment making you not act like a goof. Sports are supposed to be a fun time that you can get away from all of the things that are going on in your life. You might find that sports are a great time to not worry about all of the drama that is in your life. In conclusion, sports vital point in our culture giving us a break from the bad things for some great things.
Sports are a great teacher of important aspects in life. They bring us closer as a family, make us better people, and teach us important skills that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Even if you do not do well you will probably still have fun with it. Your team could be the worst team in the world but if all of you consider yourself as a family you will have lots of fun. If one person is selfish and only cares about themselves than cliques start to form and the team breaks down.Works CitedSillitoe, Alan. “Sport and Nationalism,” in The Broadview Reader, 3rd Ed.
Herbert Rosengarten and Jane Flick, Eds. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 1998: 332-337. Print.
