Value Of Organized Sports Essay

The value of organized sports, whether at the Pop Warner or professional level, is a highly debated topic. Proponents cite catch phrases such as team building, a sense of community, and discipline just to name a few.
There is nothing more wholesome as watching a parent and child “tossing a ball” back and forth on the lawn or seeing a group of children playing ball in the neighborhood vacant lot. These types of activities help cultivate social competence, problem solving skills, and builds a team spirit that can help children be more responsible adults. What started out as neighborhood children gathering at the vacant lot for an impromptu team game of choice has somehow morphed into an overly competitive, politically charged, billion dollar

Players and coaches are rarely fostered to achieve their best. If you lose too many games or make too many fumbles, you are traded or fired. It becomes all about the bottom dollar, how much revenue a player can bring in, and how many viewers come to see you play.
Professional players believe they are above most societal standards. We hear of players using drugs, beating their significant other, and generally behaving poorly. These players believe their status excuses bad behavior. This type of behavior has been rewarded since they started playing sports at the junior level. There are no real consequences for breaking or bending the rules. Players receive a fine that is disproportionate to their exorbitant salaries.
While I am certain organizing team sports started out as a way to foster young people to be more responsible members of society, I believe the goal has been lost somewhere along the way. This is unfortunate for parents and children who still seek the purity of what the original organizers intended. In my opinion professional sports has become more about entertainment and marketing than team building, good sportsmanship, and rational problem