New Study reveals competitive sports is divisive, in a different way than you think…
In America, sports have gotten the country through turbulent times. Its routine consumption is often a subconscious reminder that at some level we aren’t happy with our lives. Therefore, as a result, we live through the experiences of others, or a team(s). Blacks did it, during the 20th century I.E. boxing, Olympic track and field, basketball, etc. Or Americans in general with football and 9/11, In the case of national tragedy sports, unites us all. While it distracts us from our productivity it somehow makes us deal with tragedy as we see multi-million dollar athletes fulfill their contractual agreements. Think of all the feel-good sports movies about inner-city youth. Then ask yourself what if sports competitiveness in inner cities has the opposite of the desired effect. What if it were creating more conflict and division despite its unity perception agenda. Positive male influence is generally associated with sports in urban areas due to the lack of dads in the home. However, competitive sports may be more detrimental to creating unity and cohesiveness that is often lacking in urban communities. Here’s a new study that reveals competitive sports is divisive, but not as you may think..
Suspend all political ideology associated with the various professional sports for a moment. When we speak of divisiveness we’re not talking about political stances that different athletes have made public. Rather the actual sport itself. A new study titled, “Those that game together, stay together” challenges us to change our perspective on sports’ impact on communities. In the study, the research team took notes on historical games played by pacific cultures. Data was specifically collected on how cultures interacted within themselves and other groups. Here’s what they found;
“The researchers found that the cultures that frequently engage in conflicts with other cultures have more cooperative games than competitive games. On the other hand, cultures with frequent conflicts with their own community members have more competitive games than cooperative games.”
Max Planck Institute
This may explain why competitive sports continue to be so prevalent in the inner city, furthermore it may explain why the competitive dog-eat-dog cycle of the inner city may influence the continuation of a competitive game, life imitates sports, or sports imitates life?
In other words, could playing more cooperative games create more unity within the inner city? What is often the motive to play sports and where does love of the game rank on the list? Fame, attention, validation, money, social network, sexual attention from the opposite sex probably rank higher than the love of the sport. unfortunately due to a lack and perceived lack of resources, urban communities aren’t taught to cooperate together. You have to compete for a job, you have to compete for your children’s attention, you have to compete to not get taken advantage of to protect your life. When is the time to cooperate? But there must be a balance, perhaps incorporating cooperative sports and making them popular will make a difference.
In competitive sports there are clear winners and losers, this creates a us versus them mentality, a hero and villain. We have enough division through the mainstream media and politics. Winning is fun don’t get me wrong, but so is working together to build something as a team. You learn to appreciate everyone’s individual talents that are required to achieve the goal. Competitive sports on the other hand focus on the star players, the big names, and highly recruited talents. As much as basketball and football and even soccer are taunted as team sports, the way they’re marketed and perceived is quite the contrary. Doesn’t our capitalist society enforce enough me me me already.?
Simplyfun.com
When children cooperate in play, they are building all kinds of skills. They learn to problem-solve together, to test out ideas without pre-judging, and to empathize with each other’s successes and setbacks. They build altruism, compassion and grit. They learn how to lead and how to follow; how to play different roles for the benefit of the whole; and how to take advantage of the different skills, abilities, knowledge and perspective of others. They learn language and develop physical prowess. They are learning how to be a team and a teammate.
Still don’t think competitive sports is divisive? A 2017 study titled “Why to cooperate is better than to compete” highlighted the differences between the two. For instance, competing often increased the skill of the individual and their perceived social ranking based. On the other hand, competing lower the sense of in-group partnership and creates a weak perception of a group membership. This is clearly seen in professional “team sports” today. Contrarily, cooperating gave a general better sense of well-being within the social context and “reinforced perception of having a high position within the social hierarchy. But, are sports to blame as much as marketing and the desire for profit?
When basketball and football first began it was more of a team sport. Even today the teams that share and play “team” ball often win consistently. The teams that focus on star players lose. Therefore even within competitive team sports, cooperating is the key to being successful. But will cooperative sports work in a capitalistic society? Probably not due to idol worship, television contracts, etc. Michael Jordan who many say is the greatest player of all-time in any sport said his biggest competition was being idolized. Social media doesn’t make it any better either, it reinforces idol worship 25/8.
In conclusion, were not advocating for participation trophies or stickers just for showing up. However, we must delve into the individualism and the grooming of idol worship of amateur athletes. Both competing and cooperating give us skills to move ahead in life and help others. There must be a balance, giving more focus on the team effort, and or implementing more cooperating sports are necessary. It may generate less money, less popularity, less sexual attention from the opposite sex, but it will create a healthier society also.
Can cooperative games solve the dysfunction of urban communities in a capitalistic society? Let us know in the comment section below..