Sport helps to build a safer and stronger community by trying to get the children and teenagers off the streets by organising sporting events such as midnight soccer leagues throughout the week and weekends. Young people will enter a team into this league and compete against teams from their own community and other communities throughout the week and weekends. In my own community the midnight soccer league is a cross-community venture.
This helps to build a stronger safer community because members of the Catholic and Protestant communities are getting along and enjoying themselves. My community also has a lot of GAA clubs which also take young people off the streets and gives them a chance to make a name for themselves in the GAA. It also gives them something to focus on and something to look forward to. The GAA is a voluntary organisation, so the men and women that are coaching and managing the young people are all doing so out of sheer enjoyment and love of the sport.
The GAA and the midnight soccer scheme helps to take young people of the streets were they are likely to end up involved in anti-social behaviour. As a keen sportsman myself I know that achieving success in sport is a huge morale boost and you thrive on that success and want to keep winning, I personally think that the will to improve and win has kept me from engaging in anti-social behaviour. Most of the friends I have in sport are not involved in anti-social behaviour because they too have the will to improve and succeed.
When you see yourself or your team in the media for all the right reasons such as winning you gain respect from other people and I think that this encourages young people in your community or school to want too achieve the same success if not more. This helps to build a stronger and safer community, but these young people are watching and learning how you and your team conduct themselves outside of sport as well as in sport. Strengthens the economy
Sport can have a major effect on the economy of any country if it holds a major sporting event. London has been chosen to host the 2012 Olympic Games and the economy will gain major benefits from these games. The money that the economy will be receiving is that of the tourists that will be attending the games and spending money on transport, food, souvenirs and the entrance fees into the games. The economy will also be boosted by the amount of jobs created before and during the games. Sport in the UK also helps boost the local economy.
A trip to a professional football match for example, the fans will have to purchase a ticket, maybe transport, hotel, food, souvenirs and more. Sport has a lot of influence on the UK’s general public because of this shop’s such as JJB sports, JD Sports and Lifestyle sports have been very successful, because the public want to purchase all of the latest sporting goods. Develops the skills of local people In many communities men and women with no sporting experience feel obliged to take the local teams voluntarily.
In my community this mainly happens in local GAA clubs as I have already said the GAA is a voluntary organisation, these men and women have to quickly pick up skills such as entering the teams for leagues, organising games, competitions trips away etc. they have to pick IT skills to deal with these events. These are the things that are taken for granted by most of the young people/players all they have to do is show up to the trainings and matches while the local men and women put a lot of effort in the ‘behind the scenes work’ as it is known.
The GAA clubs form a committee with a chairman, secretary, treasurer. There is a separate committee for the juveniles and the seniors, again these vacancies are voluntary and require a lot of work in their spare time. However this sounds like a lot of hard work and no fun but these voluntary workers gain and develop skills, they also get a satisfaction from winning, running and hosting successful tournaments. Meets the needs of children I believe that sport is very beneficial to young people for a variety of reasons.
Sport brings young people together who have different beliefs that would not normally come together face to face , different races and they all seem to get along. Sport has a social element to it because young people that take part in sport make a lot of new friends and are always meeting new people. Sport is not necessarily about winning and being the best player. There are a lot of young people who are not very good that participate in sport because they enjoy being around their friends, I think this is because when you are part of a team you feel wanted and belonged to something.
There is a great atmosphere every time the team are together for trainings matches etc. Sport also benefits young people because it disciplines them, what I mean by disciplines them is they have to be well organised by being at training and matches on time, bringing the correct clothing/equipment, being well mannered at trainings listening, learning, watching how to do different skills. I believe this helps them in life outside of sport by being at work/ school on time and also helps them plan ahead because when you are involved in a team you have to plan things around your training schedule.
To sum up , I think that sport has numerous positives on young people and it gives them something to focus on and even aspire to reach the top level in that sport. Improves everyone’s health There is no doubt that sport is one of the best if not the best way to live a healthy lifestyle. There are a lot of diets out there on how to lose weight and you can put your money on it that every one of them recommends exercise. There are not many professional, semi professional or even amateur sports men out there who are over weight and unhealthy unless you are talking about the so called sport darts.
I think that sport can improve every ones health because the professionals in the sports are role models to a lot of young people this means that the young people aspire to be like their role model and they know that if they are over weight and unhealthy they will not achieve anywhere close to the success of their role model. In the past decade all of the top sports have brought in specialist nutritionists to make sure the performers are eating healthy because they believe that their performances will increase with a healthier lifestyle.
Not everybody can afford these special nutritionists but gym’s such as JJB and LA fitness offer specialist nutritionists advice in there gym’s at a reasonable cost, they run programmes were you can set yourself a personal goal to lose weight and you and the nutritionist aim to achieve that goal in the deadline set. Young people today who wish to become big in a sport have to watch what and when they are eating, this could have a knock on effect on their families. Their families could then begin to watch what and when they are eating and could also improve their health.