Are Sports Really Good For Us?

It is important to keep fit, but sport is not the only way to do this. Eating well is a big part of a healthy life, and many people prefer to exercise in other ways, for example jogging, working out in a gym, dancing, or even gardening. On the other hand, sport can actually be dangerous. Millions of people are hurt playing sport each year, some of them very seriously. Professional athletes spend much of their time getting over injury. Being hurt by another player is common in contact sports, such as boxing, soccer, football, rugby or hockey. Other injuries often happen because players are pushing their bodies too hard or for too long, in training or competition.

Sport does teach children lessons, but not always good ones. Many children are not naturally talented and only come across failure and embarrassment on the sports field. This hurts their confidence and may put them off any sort of exercise for life. Plenty of other activities can teach teamwork and other life skills, for example hiking and camping, playing in a band, or raising money for charity.

Sport makes people too competitive and encourages the worst sides of human nature. Sport is far from fair – the urge to compete leads many people to go too far to gain an unfair edge. Even amateur sports have plenty of cheats, a lack of respect for referees and drugs problems. These problems are worse in professional sport where the need to make money adds further pressure to win by any means. Too much competition can also be bad for you – doctors find that sports fans often feel stress and depression as a result of following their team.

Sport also encourages tribalism and an us-against-them attitude. The unity of the group depends on feelings of aggression and hostility towards other groups. This is true for fans of club teams and can be seen in football violence (hooliganism) in England, Holland and Italy. It happens at boxing matches and even in college sports in America. Hooliganism also happens between countries – every time England play Germany it renews memories of the Second World War. Violent fans have also been a problem at the African Cup of Nations and even at cricket matches.

Sports stars are bad role models for young people to follow. Many behave badly, on the field and off, and so set a bad example to children. But even those who behave well are not good examples to follow. This is because top athletes don’t need a good education. Children who hero-worship them could easily come to think that sport is more important than working hard in school. It is also bad that sport is seen as the best way for people from ethnic minorities to become well known. Shouldn’t they be celebrated for their work as scientists, doctors, and teachers, or in business?

Sport today is about money rather than taking part. Greed has ruined any good that was once in sport. Success for professional teams now depends upon having a rich owner who can buy up talented players. Players have no loyalty to the club which trained them from childhood, but go wherever the money is. Some athletes have even changed nationality for money. Advertising is everywhere, including on the pitch and the players shirts. Fans are seen as consumers, willing to overpay for any item with the team logo on it. Even the Olympics has become one great marketing exercise, rather than a celebration of sport.