PHED 1007 February 2, 2015

“Athletics taught me so much about life that it’s hard to know where to begin”- Elaine Tanner, Canadian Swimmer (1979) “I love the self discovery. Life off the ice is so complicated, its outcomes smudged, its motivations rationalized and finesses, the picture you get of yourself so unclear. On the ice, you see your elemental self, whether you like it or not-do you try hard? do you quit? are you fair? are you selfish? do you give? are you willing to take risks? do you care too much or too little? do you fit in with a team on the ice, and off”?- Ken Dryden, hockey player, author, Home Game (1989).

 Examine the concept of socialization in sport  Explore: Becoming involved and staying in sports Changing or ending our sports participation Impact of being involved in sport

 Definition of socialization: process through which we learn what we must know in order to fit into society and contribute to its operation  We can look at socialization from three different approaches: functionalist, conflict theory and interactionist.

 Functionalist Approach is based on the Internalization Model which states that as we grow up with our families, attend school, interact with peers, etc., we learn the ________we should follow and the ________ we play in society. When studying sports and socialization, the focus is on the athletes as the people being socialized and on the agents of socialization who influence these athletes. These agents usually include _______________ ______________________. ____________ __________refers to the most central and influential socializers

 Researchers who use the functionalist approach to study socialization in sport are interested in WHO _______THE SPORT PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN. They are also interested in WHAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO _______IN SPORT AND HOW THEIR PARTICIPATION INFLUENCES THEM.

 Conflict Theory is also based on the Internalization Model.  However, the focus here is on how ___________ ___________influence sport participation and the consequences of sport participation on the _________ ____________ of society

 Some researchers use the Interactionist Model which indicates that people can learn values and also _______ _______about sport participation and give meaning to their sport experiences. Sports help to form their identity.

 What factors influence some people to become involved in sports while others do not become involved?

 Stevinson, 1999 Interviewed 29 international athletes 1. Introduction & involvement: as young people tried different sports, gradually began to specialize (based on success), supported 2. Developing a commitment: relationships were made, identities were formed  What theory does this support? Stevinson, 1999:

 What factors cause people to stay involved in sports? What causes some to drop out? Note: Staying involved in sports is a decision that is being continually made, not just made once

 Burnout: long term __________, no longer interested in sport

 Coakley (1992): Research on young high- level athletes who quit due to burnout Occurred when felt no longer had ___________ Could not develop identities outside of sport Increased stress, less enjoyment of sport

 Video  berg-hbo- berg-hbo-state-of-play berg-hbo-state-of-play  What makes somebody like Tiger Woods so driven?  How can we avoid burnout in athletes?

 Do sports build “character”?

 Problems with ________________ about “character building” and sport*: Many different experiences offered by sport Certain types of people choose sports “Character building” can happen from other activities as well (examples: ) * When comparing athletes to non athletes

“What do kids know about us? They only know that we play sports. They don’t know who we are as people. You don’t learn the important things about life by watching a person play football”. Emmitt Smith, NFL player (1996)

 Sport participation may have a _________ effect on socialization if: Opportunities to build identities outside of sport New relationships can be developed New experiences outside of playing field Lessons learned can be extended to other situations Opportunities to display competence in other nonsport activities

 Surgeon General’s Report (1996): Basketball and volleyball: included as only competitive sports considered to be _________ physical activities – why?

Health benefits: PA that is rhythmic, noncompetitive (generally does not include many competitive sports) Risk of injury/maladaptive behaviours:

 Socialization can generally examined through Functionalist, Conflict and Interactionist Theories