Socialisation Through Sports

The article discusses the importance of sports in socialisation and personal development. It highlights the benefits of sports in creating social identity, breaking stereotypes, and developing critical thinking, conflict resolution, negotiation, decision making, and problem solving skills. The author also shares personal experiences and views on the physically demanding nature of sports and advises children to engage in sports for physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Running head: SOCIALISATION THROUGH SPORTS
SOCIALISATION THROUGH SPORTS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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From the very early childhood, I have seen that my parents have provided much
importance to keeping my sibling and me fit and healthy. They were in fear that too much of
staying inside the home might make us obese. Children nowadays have developed sedentary
lifestyle and hence they are suffering from obesity and many other associated negative outcomes
(Wagner, 2017). Therefore, my parents started taking us to the neighborhood playground where
we used to play football. What started as a method to keep us fit became our love and I could
never stay without a single day without playing football.
Throughout the primary and secondary sessions of schooling, I had been an active
member of the football club. I had gradually learnt about the technical aspects of playing the
game. With the help of my mentors also, I have developed some of the most important skills
required in playing football. Power, speed as well as agility had been the main fundamental skills
that are extremely important for gaining excellence in the sport (Gordon, 2017). My trainer had
advised that skilled soccer player required sprinting, jumping as well as maneuvering all round
the field with explosive power. Therefore, in order to build power, I am doing plyometrics that
are also called jump training. Agility mainly means that the individual should be able to
maneuver quickly at the same time of marinating control as well as form (Elliason, 2015). I have
developed the knowledge that speed and agility go hand in hand. Therefore, I am conducting
high knee drills for the strengthening of the hip flexures and thereby developing quickness.
Dribbling, passing, shielding, trapping, tackling, shooting and goalkeeping are other skills, which
are also important. One of the most important things that such skills had helped me to achieve is
a healthy lifestyle. I believe that all these engagements in order to learn the skills, keep me busy
throughout the day and had helped me to learn time management. My personal view about games
had evolved over time when I learnt effective time management skills, as I had to juggle both my

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academics and sport activities equally. Therefore, I believe that such sport helps an idivudual to
become more responsible and disciplined, helping the society to achieve responsible citizens.
When I was a child, there were hardly any opportunities like sports coaching or similar
other services that could help me learn the skills of football. At that time, my father and my uncle
used to make me understand the different aspects by watching in the television as well as on the
fields practically. However, when I was in eighth grade, my school provided the opportunity of
participating in the football club that had opened recently. This provided me the scope to learn
football skills from a trainer where I came to develop many interesting skills and even certain
“smart work” that I needed to develop while playing games. When I was in the tenth standard,
the concept of sports coaching came up and I immediately took admission there. Besides, the
time when I used to study for my academics, I used to spend most of the time playing football or
watching them. Therefore, gradually in course of time, I started taking it as a passion and wanted
to play football throughout my life.
Researchers are of the opinion that participation in the sports had helps in creation of
social identity (Black, 2015). Researchers have conducted studies where they have found that
high school youth who participated in the different types of organized sports activities viewed
sports as a place for meeting young people who are sharing common interests (Mayeza, 2015).
Sports gave me an opportunity for developing team-working skills and helped me to learn how to
work collaboratively (Haycock & Smith, 2014). Moreover, I have seen sports to be acting as a
method of breaking the stereotypes. Therefore, my personal view is that this is another reason
why I like sports exceptionally. Moreover, I have been able to interact with different types of
people with their respective cultural backgrounds. This had helped me to develop cultural
tolerance and overcome cultural biasness effectively. Sports had exposed me to different

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situations like conflicts, blame games, negative feelings as well as power struggles (Cushion et
al., 2017). All these situations had not only helped me critical thinking skills, conflict resolution
skills, negotiation skills, decision making skills as well as problem solving skills but also had
helped me develop tolerance levels and self regulation skills (Potrac, Nelson & O’Gorman,
2016). These had indeed helped to develop as an individual helping in personal development.
Playing football had helped me to keep myself fit, healthy, and away from any lifestyle
disorders. However, another of my personal view is that it is physically demanding and often I
feel weak after coming back from my practice sessions. Often playing in the heat also gives me a
hard time and I feel much drained out after intense sweating. However, the passion and love that
I had developed over the years had made me competitive where such barriers cannot prevent me
from playing football again.
I also advise the children of the recent generations to engage themselves with any form of
sport as it not only enables physical fitness but also enables mental and emotional stability.

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References:
Black, L. (2015). Identity Construction and Socialisation in a University Football
team (Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).
Cushion, C. J., Harwood, C. G., & Clarke, N. J. (2017). Players’ understanding of talent
identification in early specialisation youth football.
Eliasson, I. (2015). “In different sports worlds”: Socialisation among children, coaches, and
parents in girls’ and boys’ football teams. European Journal for Sport and Society, 12(2),
187-214.
Gordon, B. (2017). Sport, and the promotion of positive socialisation: fact, fallacy or simply
wishful thinking. Revista internacional de transparencia e integridad, (4), 13.
Haycock, D., & Smith, A. (2014). A family affair? Exploring the influence of childhood sport
socialisation on young adults’ leisure-sport careers in north-west England. Leisure
studies, 33(3), 285-304.
Mayeza, E. (2015). Exclusionary violence and bullying in the playground: Football and gender
‘policing’at school. African Safety Promotion: A Journal of Injury and Violence
Prevention, 13(1), 49-70.
Potrac, P., Nelson, L., & O’Gorman, J. (2016). Exploring the everyday realities of grass-roots
football coaching: towards a relational perspective. Soccer & Society, 17(6), 910-925.

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Wagner, C. (2017). From the back page to the front room: football’s journey through the English
media.