Sports is a great way to keep your body fit. It strengthens your heart, increases your life expectancy and lowers your blood pressure. It also reduces the amount of cholesterol and fat in your body. You can also improve your mental health with regular participation in sports.
The socialization of young people through sports is well-known, and it has long been claimed that such activities help to train them in self-discipline and teamwork. However, there is also evidence to suggest that participation in sport can inculcate a desire for socially destructive behaviours such as cheating and violence.
Globalization and sports
The development of modern sports has been shaped by the interwoven economic, political, social, and cultural patterns of globalization. As a result, the speed, scale, and volume of sports development can be imagined as eddies within the broader flows of people, technology, finance, images, and ideologies that are now circulating through global networks.
This symbiosis between sports and the mass media has been described as a “dynamic synergy” that is “inseparable.” Without the influence of the mass media, elite sports would not be possible, nor could they generate the enormous commercial interests that sustain their multibillion-dollar industries.
Athletes and spectators often resent the power that the media have over sports, claiming that their ethos, rules, and structure have been altered by these dominant media forces. This is an understandable and sometimes justified sentiment.
It is important to consider that the core of the sports world consists of western Europe, Russia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand (as well as several former Soviet-bloc states). On the periphery are most Asian, African, and Latin American nations.