In this assignment I am going to explore the appropriate behaviour that is acceptable in a range of sporting situations. A professional sports person is someone who competes in a sport as a living. 4 different sporting situations that can influence professional sports persons behaviour. 1. Home life – This can influence a professional sports persons behaviour, as they might have a lack of sleep, and not eat and drink the correct things.
If a professional sports person doesn’t get the correct amount of sleep then their body is not fully restored and they won’t be able to perform for a long period of time as normally, they are also not mentally prepared for the task in hand. If they have an alcoholic drink then there body will become dehydrated affecting their performance and behaviour dramatically. They may become aggressive towards their team mates, coach or officials and even their fans portraying a bad role model. If their diet is poor and they don’t eat the correct types of food then they will become tired and sluggish and maybe even put weight on.
2. Media – Professional sports persons have to be on their best behaviour when in front of cameras, because they are seen as good role models for younger children, and have to promote their team and sponsor. They also have to behave when they are out on social events (clubbing) if not this shows bad publicity to the club, player and his or her fans. This can lead to disciplinary within their club. The media has a good effect on the professional sports persons performance by making the players status higher and team more favourable, but can also have a bad effect by intruding on their personal life and also on them selves and their team mates.
3. During competition – This can affect the performer as they are under a lot of pressure and sometimes out of their normal environment. When a team plays away in a tournament they may have to stay in a hotel, they don’t have many of their home comforts and therefore will have to find other ways of amusing themselves, they have to be careful whilst doing this because there will always be someone watching them whilst they are out or maybe even when they are at their hotel, so again they have to be on their best behaviour. Also because they are away they are representing their club and even country this is huge pressure to do well which can then lead to stress meaning their performance may fall.
4. Professional Scene – The professional sports person has to display a good sense of sportsmanship being a good role model when in play, as this 9is the place where they are most seen by the most amounts of people. If there is bad traits by a player then kids will easily follow in their example (for example when Eric Cantona got sent off from a football match he walked over to a fan in the crowd and kicked him) People change when they are on the pitch, you see their competitive side rather than their everyday side and in some cases this could be bad because it could be too competitive which could lead to fights etc and again if kids see this they will think its ok because their idols are doing it and they can do no wrong in their eyes.
Theses 4 professional sports persons are suitable role models for younger players Gary Lineker is one of football’s gentlemen. A silent man off the field, on it he was deadly. He was Player of the Year and top scorer. In his entire professional career, he didn’t receive a yellow card. Due to never receiving a caution he gained the title “Mr Nice Guy” and because of this he is seen as a great ambassador for the English game and the face of football for the BBC presenting most football programmes. His popularity has enabled him to appear in light hearted series of commercials for Walkers promoting food and also inducted him into the English Football hall of fame.
Ian Wright, known for being a former professional footballer and currently a TV and radio personality. He made 602 prefessional appearences including 31 for England scoring 304 goals, 9 of which came for England. Since his retirement from football, he has become a media personality, appearing on the BBC’s Match of the Day, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He has also had a career as a presenter. He hosted a programme called Ian Wright’s Unfit Kids, in which he attempted to coach unfit kids to lose weight, which is a cruital topic in Britain today. Both these professional sports persons are both good role models. They have both put back into there sport and helping others. As Gary Lineker played Mr Nice Guy on and off the pitch sending out a good message to young children, Ian wasn’t so good on pitch though he’s put back into the community by helping young children with obesity and promoting good health on talk shows.
Paula Radcliffe known for Long-distance runner. Who won the 2005 London Marathon and finished first at the New York Marathon last year. In 2003, Paula broke the World Record for the fastest women’s marathon time. She’s also won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year! Radcliff’s athletic ability and commitment to training are accompanied by a strong belief in playing by the rules. She has frequently made high-profile condemnations of performance-enhancing drugs in athletics, most famously at the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton in 2001 when Radcliffe and team-mate Hayley Tullett held up a sign protesting against the reinstatement of Russian athlete Olga Yegorova, after Yegorova had tested positive for the banned substance EPO. Radcliffe also wears a red ribbon when competing to show her support for blood testing as a method of catching drugs cheats.
Kelly Holmes won 2 gold Olympic medals for the 800m and 1500m. Holmes spreads testing awareness, this helps kids fully understand the entire drug testing process realising there is no mistake. She hopes that it will help children with their ambitions to reach high levels in sports. These two women are both strong minded women. They both enjoy there sport which is running or sprinting and both achieve high levels of standards and hard work. This is a good role model for youngsters, as it shows with effort and training you can achieve what you want. Both these women also campaign on the anti doping and use of drugs, promoting healthy lifestyles again making children realise drugs are bad and wrong.