This is the question that haunted my childhood, asked by overweight dads in singlets at barbeques, or parroting peers who didn't know any better.
"I...uh...I don't play any sports" I would reply sheepishly, looking down at the ground ashamedly and cursing my parents refusal to drive to god-knows-where and back at 7am on a saturday morning.
"Oh." The answer was always the same, a grunt of bemused surprise followed by immediate dismissal, leaving me there to ponder as to what social crime I had committed.
It was conversations like these that dominated a very large proportion of my younger years, and the effect they have had has brought me to question the validity of Australia's sporting obsession. whilst the benefits of physical activity and sport itself is certainly unquestionable, especially in this day in this age of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, what I wish to call into question is the emphasis we place on organised competition, and the 'non-sporting underclass' it creates.
Image Source: (http://www.ehow.com/facts_5200185_importance-sports-children.html)
Ehow health describes organised sport as a developmental necessity, noting that:
'Casual physical activity is fine, but organized sports provide greater benefits. They are scheduled, ensuring a commitment. Children also work with teammates and coaches which encourages competition, teamwork and problem-solving skills.'
(http://www.ehow.com/facts_5200185_importance-sports-children.html#ixzz1tflNuY4Y)
whilst, of course, the skills listed above are all fairly essential in our society, I believe that they can be built on in a way that does not necessitate the creation of a sport based social heirachy.
Another element I believe to be a significant factor within these concerns is Australia's obsession with winning. Sportings supporters will always (understandably) go on about the importance of teamwork within our society, and the way in which this embodied within competitive sports. Whilst, theoretically, this makes perfect sense, it begins to fall apart as the emphasis placed on winning begins to grow. For two years, I worked as a football referee for the Gladesville-Hornsby football referees association, and I can say from experience that in single team I ever refereed below the age of 15, the coaches' strategies would always centre around passing the ball to the one or two players on the team who would be relatively guaranteed to score.
Now certainly, this is a good way of winning games, but does it really build teamwork? does it really help children's self esteem to know that they exist only to pass the ball to someone better than them? This often adds even greater problems to the afforementioned social issues, furhter entrenching the sporting heirachy such that it was very difficult to escape.
It is for these reasons that I call into question the emphasis placed on competitive sporting as an adequate means of providing physical activity and building character within our society, and it is for these reasons that I will forever dread that lingering question: 'So who do you play for'
- Sam
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