Sports bring together people from different backgrounds, religions and beliefs. This allows them to socialize, make friends and learn to play fair.
Sport can also help children develop physical skills, get exercise and improve their self-esteem. It also provides a good way to stay active as they grow older, helping them avoid problems such as obesity and heart disease.
Health benefits from regular sport include:
A healthy body is a happy body, and sports can help people stay fit and healthy throughout their lives (see the links below). It can also reduce risk of disease such as diabetes and heart disease, improve self-esteem and motivation, increase lung capacity and decrease the consumption of alcohol.
Physical activity is linked to improved health and well-being in adults, resulting in a higher life expectancy. This is particularly true of children who start playing sports at a young age, as it will help them develop a healthy lifestyle and lead a more active life as they grow up.
Sports can also help children develop leadership and teamwork skills. It teaches them to work as a unit and be part of a group, and helps them to develop the confidence and self-esteem that comes from being a good member of a team.
The development of sports around the world is inextricably linked to a wider process of globalization, whereby people, money, images, and ideas travel across the globe with great speed and power. Europe and North America have dominated this process to an overwhelming extent, with sports increasingly being viewed as expressions of Western masculine ideology.