Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies Chapter 16 Sports in the Future: Are We Agents of Change?

The future is created rather than predicted. (Source: Royalty-Free/CORBIS)

Thinking about the future: Envisioning possibilities  Sports are social constructions; they can be invented, redefined, and changed.  The meaning, purpose, and organization of sports in the future will be based on the collective decisions and actions of human beings.  Sports are contested activities when people struggle over these decisions.

Models for thinking about sports and the future (I) Power & performance sports Will be dominant in immediate future because they reaffirm dominant ideologies Corporate sponsors give priority to these sports because they reaffirm their interests They are exclusive and create more spectators than participants Their popularity depends on power staying in the control of men who value conquest over others (continued)

Questions that people will raise about power & performance sports:  How should technology be regulated when exploring human limits?  How can fairness be guaranteed when there is unequal access to training and technology?  How can injuries be minimized and access maximized when the goal is conquest?

Models for thinking about sports and the future (II) Pleasure & participation sports Will grow as “connections” are valued over confrontation and domination Corporate sponsors may support these sports more in the future as people question dominant ideologies Other factors support the growth of these sports:  Concerns about health and fitness  Participation preferences of older people  Values and experiences that women bring to sports  Groups seeking alternative sports and new ways to do sports

College club sports offer sports that combine elements of power & performance AND pleasure & participation. Ultimate is a good example of this. Source: Bob Byrne, Ultimate Players Association)

Current Trends (I) Factors supporting the growth of power & performance sports  People with power and influence use them to reaffirm the ideologies that legitimize their position in society  They are easy to market and sell Media can focus on individuals and their stories Fans identify with individual athletes who endorse products sold to fans.

Current Trends (II) Factors supporting the growth of Pleasure & participation sports  Concerns about health and fitness  Preferences among older people  Current values and experiences of girls & women  Groups seeking alternatives to power & performance sports

Concerns about health and fitness may encourage sports that have a wellness value.

Some older people will emphasize traditional pleasure and participation sports, but others...

... will turn to less traditional or new alternatives.

Women and men will play more sports together— sports organized for pleasure & participation more than power & performance. Photo by Jay Coakley

Women’s roller derby is an emerging new sport— is it a power and performance sport or a pleasure and participation sport?

Those who favor unstructured activities will seek alternatives to power & performance sports. Alternative sports now include much more than “extreme” sports. Photo by Jay Coakley

Those who favor unstructured activities will seek alternatives to power & performance sports. Alternative sports now include much more than “extreme” sports. Photo by Jay Coakley

Many alternative sports are not extreme. They may involve competition, but they’re organized around a pleasure and participation model. Photo by Jay Coakley

Other pleasure and participation sports will be more spontaneous, such as this backyard trampoline competition. Photo by Jay Coakley

Many pleasure & participation sports offer health benefits as well as connections with other people and the environment. Photo by Jay Coakley

Corporations in Japan use pleasure and participation sports to develop good working relationships between employees. This is cheap compared to $4 million for a 30-seconds commercial time during the Super Bowl.

Other Alternatives  Boom Boom Huck Jam/Ticket to Ride  Paralympics  Special Olympics  Gay Games  Senior Games  Muslim Women’s Games  Adventure sports

According to some sociologists, this would qualify as an alternative sport that challenges existing gender ideology.

People with disabilities also will seek connections through sports—with other people and with the environment. (Source: Rob Schoenbaum)

Photo by John Faier for Gay Games VII The Gay Games have an emphasis on inclusion.

Factors influencing trends today  Organization & rationalization (“do it the right way”)  Commercialization & consumption (“you are what you buy, wear, and use”)  Telecommunications & electronic media (“Leave my video games and go outside? No way.”)  Technology (“Enhancement is now normal”)  Demographic changes (“Hola! ¿Dónde está el campo de fútbol”)

Current trends: Sports for people with disabilities (I)  Increase in people disabled by war, lack of medical care, and poverty  Increasing recognition that people with disabilities desire to play sports and have a right to expect opportunities  Continuing use of sport participation as therapy  More sports for elite athletes with disabilities (continued)

Current trends: Sports for people with disabilities (II)  New technologies that facilitate sport participation  More visible examples of sports for elite athletes with disabilities  Emerging ideas, vocabularies, and orientations that support people with a disability and their participation in sports

Miracle League & Field  Grounded in idealism  Created by idealists with a vision for increasing opportunities for young people with disabilities  Related to the needs of 6+ million children in the U.S. and thousands of soldiers whose injuries caused physical impairments

Accessible playing surfaces and sport facilities make it possible for people to play sports under encouraging conditions.

Will video sport games and virtual sports replace on-the- field games among some children?

Trying to improve skills on your own terms is different from doing a routine over and over to meet someone else’s standards. Once we “feel” this distinction in our own sport participation, we become much more creative as we think of how to do sports and incorporate them into our lives.

Becoming change agents: Identifying goals (I) Conservative goal: growth Based on the belief that sports should expand and become more efficient in their current forms Emphasizes management issues and improving performance

Becoming change agents: Identifying goals (II) Reformist goal: improvement Based on a belief that sports are positive and participation opportunities should be increased Emphasizes social inclusion, equity, and fairness

Becoming change agents: Identifying goals (III) Radical goal: transformation Based on the belief that dominant sports are fatally flawed and must be reorganized or replaced Emphasizes a critical approach along with structural and ideological changes

Vantage points for making changes 1.Work within the system of sports Be an “insider” and try to avoid being co-opted 2.Join “opposition” groups Create or join groups that use political pressure to create futures based on idealistic visions 3.Create new or alternative sports Focus on new ways to view and play sports and inspire others to do the same 4.Work outside sports Work to transform cultural practices and forms of social relations that affect the meaning and organization of sports

Viewing sports as social constructions may cause some people to be defensive because they resist the idea that we can or ever should change sports.

Participants can change the way sports are organized and played to meet their interests. This is done frequently by people not constrained by the great sport myth or a desire to follow official rules. (Source: Basia)

Quidditch: Created by students at Middlebury College Photo by Jay Coakley

Tough Mudders: created by students in a Harvard business class

Pushing for change from outside sports Push for change from outside sports This logo was created to protest the use of an offensive Native American logo in a Colorado high school Photo by Jay Coakley

Regardless of vantage point, being an effective agent of change requires 1. Visions of what sports and social life could and should be like 2. Willingness to work hard on the strategies needed to turn visions into realities 3. Political abilities to rally the resources that make strategies effective

Creating futures: Using cultural theories Cultural theories Explain how people use power to maintain sports to represent their interests and how they resist change Goals are usually reformist, seldom conservative, and occasionally radical Changing sports requires  Changing symbols, values, vocabularies, beliefs, and ideologies  Empowering people to create sports on their own terms  A strategic focus on inclusion

Creating futures: Using interactionist theories Interactionist theories Explain that people often resist reformist and radical changes because the status quo supports valued identities Goals (when combined with cultural theories) are reform and transformation Changing sports requires  Changing socialization processes, identities, and priorities given to various role models and significant others  Tactful, evidence-based strategies that defuse resistance  Developing alliances with people in sports

Creating futures: Using structural theories Structural theories Explain that social worlds are organized around values and interests and that changing sports has implications for overall patterns of organization Goals can be conservative, reformist, or transformational (depends on type of theory used) Changing sports requires  Changes in relationships and patterns of organization  More equitable distribution of material resources and access to power and economic opportunities  Regulation of economic processes

Transforming sports is a challenging task  Efforts are met with strong resistance  Believers in the great sport myth know that sports as they currently exist are the way they should be Example: Changing the size & weight of a baseball to fit the physical attributes of young players is resisted, even if it reduces shoulder and elbow injuries.

Deviants in 1968; heroes today Photo by Jay Johnson

Great sport myth believers often uncritically conclude that “a ball can change the world.” Even as a slogan this is naïve. Photo by Jay Coakley

Athletes as change agents  Athletes have celebrity and market status, but little real power to reform or transform sports or society. Therefore, they focus on conservative goals.  If athletes endorse deep changes in society, they risk losing support and media coverage. Athletes often focus on non-contentious issues and use conservative strategies  To become change agents, athletes require the support of established organizations that can provide them with “cover.”

Professional sport teams often have programs that serve local populations. This one serves low-income, minority youth in Indianapolis. Is this a good place to become a change agent? Photo by Jay Coakley

The future is created rather than predicted.