The benefits of sports participation are not only physical, but also mental. Not only do sports help prevent various communicable and non-communicable diseases, they are also inexpensive ways to improve health and well-being. Athletes develop important life skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives, including leadership, goal-setting, and self-esteem. Many students benefit from sports participation by increasing their confidence and self-esteem, as well as increasing their stamina.
While the aesthetic value of many sports is still present, the emphasis on quantification has shifted the focus away from performance to a competitive aspect. A shift in semantics can be seen in the transition between Renaissance and modern sports, where the word measure used to connote an aesthetic sense of balance and proportion began to mean numerical measurements. While these developments are reflected in today’s definition of sports, they are significant nonetheless. If you don’t believe in the value of sports, try to recognize how much they improve people’s lives.
Emotions are a fundamental part of the sports experience, reflecting athletes’ self-evaluation of their performance and perception of the performance of others. While some feelings occur before the event and others occur during the performance, the emotional experience is often scripted by the sport subculture. The rules of emotion management guide athletes to control their emotions during key moments of the event. In some cultures, appropriate behaviors may be expected during the national anthem and postgame victory celebrations.
