Sociology is the aspect of certain behaviors within individuals or group of people in a society. Sports sociology entails the relationship between games and the society. It describes how certain cultures value sports. In America, sports are one of the known social gatherings that brought different people together. For instance, in 2008, Ohio and Louisiana universities played a football game in New Orleans where Louisiana won. Fans watched the game live from home and therefore, there was a connection between sports, family and the media (Lewis, 2008).
There are some hypotheses on approach to the theories of sociology and sports. One of the theories is functionalism. It is a theory of conservative, which supports the status quo. It deals with how social systems operate through teaching the society values and morals that people have to follow, mechanisms that bring people together socially, teaching people on goals and how to achieve them, and mechanisms for dealing with changes in environmental and social outside the systems. Another theory of sociology and sports is the conflict theory. In sports, society differs on relationships and differences in interests like leadership and economic interests. Here the most powerful and rich people in the society controls such social institutions like schools, the media and sports organizations. Sports are determined on how the economy is structured and conflicts on how money and power will be spent emerge. There is a conflict between education and sports, where some people feels that in schools, some students may neglect their studies in favor of sports. In sports sociology, functionalism is beneficial to both the society and the players since it teaches morals and values, which brings understanding in the society (Lewis, 2008).
Sports have become an interest study for sociologists in the past decades. This is because some countries like US and Canada have intricate systems of sporting in the whole world. The countries organize sports from grass root leagues to professional teams. These competitions become a meeting point to the organizers, officials, players and fans. Due to the complexity of sports, it includes many social institutions like the media, education, family, religion and politics. In addition, sports teach people different values and morals. According to sociologists, sports teach Americans such values as hard work, competition and success, the teachings are based on achievements made and the leadership of the organizers. For instance, an insurance executive was heard saying that he would be interested in hiring athletes and military officers since they were the only fellows to understand values (Brown, 2002). Sports are also related to certain disciplines that sports sociologists study. These include; Mass media and sports, Sports as a substitute to religion, Success on sporting based on gender and race mobility and problems affecting sporting like injuries, drugs and violence.
Sports sociology is a discipline in sociology. It entails behaviors and interactions of the society in different areas of interest. Sports sociology observes sports as part of human interactions particularly on social and cultural life. It therefore brings out the relationship between sports and the society. Sports as part of culture is considered as a moral construction in the society between individuals based on different needs, interests, resources and values. Therefore, different cultures have different physical activities and exercises depending on the purpose and the meaning of the sporting event. For instance, in a historical perspective, gender and sports had different meaning to different cultures. For example, in some cultures, women were banned from participating in sports.
In 1970, sports sociology became an area of study due to the increased roles played by the sports in the lives of most people in the society (Brown, 2002). In addition, society had become enlightened on the benefits of sports regardless of gender. From a sociological perspective, sports determine human behaviors in the sporting event. It also brings out the relationship between groups, sports and individuals. As an area of study, sports sociology explores the impact of physical exercises and the body, disability, gender, social class and ethnicity. It also tries to explain the social procedures that occur during sporting like; competition, social transformation and cooperation.
References
Brown, S. (2002). Sport Sociology. Retrieved from: http://www.hhp.txstate.edu/hper/faculty/pankey/1310/SptSoc.htm
Lewis, J. (2008). Sociology of Sports. Retrieved from: http://www.cengage.com/custom/enrichment_modules/data/0495598127_Sociology_of_Sports-mod_watermark.pdf
