The Olympic Ideal and Modern SportSection C – part 2

We need to evaluate whether the Olympic Ideal still has a place in modern-day sport!

Objectives:• Describe the stages of how sports developed from the 18th and 19th Centuries to the recognisable forms we have today – to include: popular recreation, industrialisation, rational recreation and post-industrialisation• Explain how the British way of playing fair and to the letter of the law (i.e. the ethics of sport came about)• Explain Olympism and the intentions of the modern Olympics• Explain the contract to compete and relate to recent times

•Popular recreation = recreation for the populace•Feature of life way before industrialisation•Different classes – different forms of recreation•Upper classes – real tennis, fencing•Working classes (peasants) – mob-games• Peasants – rural life – dictated to by seasons•Time for recreation came from holy days and religious festivals•Result – popular recreation were occasional happenings •Early games had no clear rules – free for all!

Popular recreation e.g. mob football – characteristics:• Local, often rural

• Disorganised and/or unstructured• Few and/or simple rules

• Working/lower class involvement• Violent – many injuries

• Used limited equipment or facilities• Played only occasionally on festivals or holidays

• Based on force not skill

Pre-industrialisation

•For 1860 onwards – society started to change as did sport•Industrial Revolution in full swing – machines carrying out work previously done by people•Factories – employing 1000s – need to live close to work – terrace housing built in cities•Terraces – little or no space for recreation •Long shifts – 12hrs – 6 days a week (Up to 72hr working weeks to start with)•Leisure time scarce – only Sunday and this was a day of rest – Church had big influence•Only effects working class – upper and middle classes continued to play their sport – unaffected by URBANISATION (Development of cities caused by movement of population from rural areas (where jobs were disappearing because of mechanisation) to towns (where new jobs created in factories)).

Urbanisation affected sportRural life – seasons – space – local rivalry.

Move to towns – no space – sport had to changeParticipation in sport expensive – working class poorly paid

Lack of facilities for working classesFactory owners established sports clubs to raise morale & loyalty improve

health and social control – some provided land to play on6 day week reduced to 5.5days eventually – Saturday pm sport

Space premium only a few could play – spectators main involvementChurch – imp provider of land and organiser of teams

Industrialisation

As wages increased – more could afford to watch or play sport

Railway developed – travel easier Communication also developed

Fixtures, leagues, cups competitions – easier to organise

Est. more and more clubs – spectator sport grew and grew

Comps grew in size – more spectators – leading to

professionalism and more media interest

Middle classes controlled sportThey dictated hours – long and tiring

Women and children used as cheap labour – malnutrition and disease common

Working classes – very little disposable income if anyInitially no parks – street games declared illegal (damage to shops and

onlookers)Pubs were central to culture – sports developed to suit

o In Victorian era – traditional aspects of popular sport (revelry, debauchery, gambling and drunkenness) became less of a forceoDue to moralising influence of middle classes – via traditions of public school educationoMiddle classes – added fair play to their sport – strict regulation of rules and strict amateur ethosoMiddle classes played sport for pleasure – character buildingoThree major contributions to emergence of rational recreation:o Codificationo Competitionso Organisations

Emergence of rational recreation

Fair play – allowing equal chance of

success and treating other performers

with respect

Task – Invent a gameEquipment: Tennis ball – 2 bins

Choose an area to playDiscuss with other players –

limits to playing area – method of scoring, the limitations of movement with a ball – what

constitutes a foul

Now play!

You have just been through the process of CODIFICATION

CODIFICATION – the gradual organisation and defining of rules for the actual playing of the sport and the conduct and behaviour of participants

Without rules – sport could not existRules allow participants to compete on equal terms and apply to all levels of

involvementMajor influence – public schools

Public schools – sport provided discipline to boysSchools encouraged formation of a code of conduct for such activities

Boys took their rules to university and armed forces and established clubsInfluential members of these clubs – agreed standardised set of rules

Led to development of NGBsNGBs development regional and local organisations - with comps to allow more

teams to play matches

Alongside this development was British dominance of the world in terms of industrialisation

British way of life exported abroad

And where we went – our sports followed

Includes influence of armed forces – missionaries – engineers – administrators

Clubs established often to occupy Brits but local people soon got involved – fun!

e.g. European and South American Football clubsSome sports only played in former empire countries – cricket?

Public School influence of sport and the gentleman amateur

o Victorian society – class orientated – reflected in education systemoPublic school – fee paying – middle/upper classesoAimed at producing future leaders to guide UK and the Empire - captains of industry!oQualities such as leadership, loyalty, courage, discipline and commitment were encouragesoSchools saw potential in developing these characteristics through sportoThe cult of athleticism developedoMany public school sportsmen went to universities and following graduation many returned to teach or enter clergyoThey encourages more to play sportoBy 1890 most sports were played in an organised way

Athleticism – a fanatical

devotion to sport that

developed the physical, social

and moral aspects of young men

Amateurs – a person who

plays sport for fun and for no financial gain

Professional – sports

performer who is paid to play

their sport

Gentleman Amateur – a sportsman who, because of his

social position and financial situation, had no need for

monetary reward from participation in sport

Professional or amateur?

Some keen to maintain class divideAnd use sport as a means of social

control – maintaining a clear difference between amateurs and professionals‘Not playing the game’ – expression

describing spirit playedProfessionals paid to play – working

class – talentedSome sports remained amateur –

refused to change – exclude working classes – rowing, athletics

Cricket maintained its amateur and profession divide until the 1960s

Upper classes manage to play the way they wanted and keep working classes

out

Football was slightly different:1. Early administrators had to

admit better players couldn’t get time off to play

2. Also – enough spectators so could afford to pay them to play

3. Amateur football administrators accepted professionalism in 1885

4. Football league established!

From church teams:

Fulham St Andrew’s Sunday SchoolVilla Cross Methodist ChapelChrist Church Sunday School

Trinity Church, Bordsley

They became:

FulhamAston Villa

Bolton WanderersBirmingham City

Workplaces:

Yorkshire and Lancashire Railway CompanyThames Ironworks

The Royal Arsenal, WoolwichSalters Spring Works

They became:

Man UtdWest Ham Utd

ArsenalWest Bromwich Albion

Old boys associations:Blackburn Grammar School

St John’s Presbyterian and Tottenham Grammar School

Sunderland and District Teachers AssocWyggeston School

They became:Blackburn Rovers

Tottenham Hotspur

SunderlandLeicester City

In this period……1. Difference between classes never

more apparent – middle/upper classes were increasing in affluence but working class becoming more impoverished

2. Professional performer in 19th century had limited earnings but better than normal wage (working class)

3. Middle/upper remained entrenched in amateur ways

4. Until late in 20th Century – broad generalisation – • players – working class• Agents, managers and

promoters – middle class• Sponsors and patrons – upper

5. Increased media interest in sport and different income streams – most sports can support professionals

6. Nowadays a professional plays at a higher level than an amateur

7. Increased status of professionals now8. Young people aspire to be

professionals9. Allows more social mobility now than

in the 19th Century

OlympismBefore 1970s – intention of Olympic – promote friendship, international

harmony and understanding

Existed in a Victorian ethos – fair play and sportsmanship

Play within the rules and etiquette of the sport

“It’s the taking part that counts!”

No financial rewards

Olympic symbols designed to reinforce this philosophyDoves of peaceIntertwined rings – harmonyAthlete’s oath: “We swear that we will take part in these Olympic games in the true spirit of

sportsmanship and that we will abide by the rules that govern them, for the glory of sport and the honour of our country

.”Olympism – competing in the spirit

of sportsmanship with the emphasis on taking part rather than

winning

More recently – • More money involved

(TV rights – large audiences)

• More importance on sporting successHost city – potential for

substantial revenue – tourism, employment,

prestige, facilities Media increased earning potential of successful athletes

Millions of pounds now spent on getting athletes to their peak!Olympics now elitist.

Olympics - originally established by Baron Pierre de Coubertin – 1896

To – bring nations together – allow youth from across the world to

compete across national boundaries – increasing cross-cultural tolerances

Gradually overtime – there has been an

erosion of the amateur ideals and the ideal of competing fairly – For

example: succeed from own efforts – money available to support athletes across the

world different – not equal!

Contract to compete

An unwritten code governing how to strive to play fairly, within the rules

SportsmanshipConforming to the rules, spirit and

etiquette of a sport

Based on the C to C we expect performers to:

1. Try their best2. Show sportsmanship

3. Respect rules and officials

The spirit of the contest Concept based on a deep

UK culture – the Victorian ideas of fair play,

amateurism, athleticism, respect for opponent,

taking part not winning etc

Fair play

Character

Sportsmanship

Three components of morality in sport

Allowing all participants an equal chance – acting towards other performers in an honest,

straightforward, dignified manner – assumes respect of team mates, opponents and

officials

Refers to values and habits that determine the way a person

reacts to fears, challenges, failures and success – typically seen as polite behaviours – helping an opponent up, shaking hands

Overtime a more negative ethic has

invaded sport involving for example:

1. prize money,2. Gamesmanship3. The idea that

winning is everything

4. The use of drugs

Gamesmanship – bending the rules – often seen as time wasting in some sports

1. Pressure to win increased in modern times – pressures can lead to deviant

behaviour2. Sometimes performer lacks morals or

ethical restraints that might govern their behaviour

3. Pressure increase as the importance of the occasion increases

4. Will also increase with age potentially

Some pressures are external – outside control of performer – demands from sponsors, the

intrusion of media, expectations of organisers/crowd, demand

from coach/team mates

Functional actions in sport – within the contract to compete:

1. Returning the ball to the opposition after an injury break

2. Clapping the opposition after losing3. ‘walking’ in cricket4. Clapping the opposition’s century5. Exhausting yourself in the attempt to win6. Lending the opposition a player if they are

short7. Admitting fouls

Dysfunctional actions in sport

1. Arguing with the referee2. Appealing for a throw when you know it’s not

yours3. Deliberately fouling to prevent good performance4. Diving in a game to gain a foul5. Tying laces to get a rest6. Using drugs

Reasons why this behaviour is contrary to the contract to compete:• Acts of violence is outside the rules of the activity and outside the characteristics,

etiquette and ethics of the activity• In general violence will deprive the victim of free and fair opportunity to win

• Violence is often against the law

• Some games will allow violence if mutually agreed, accepted limits, and in some sports within the rules – e.g. boxing

Question 10 – June 2012

Many of the sporting values and technical developments that underpin modern sport were established in the 19th century.

15 How might a performer break the contract to compete during a sporting contest?(3 marks)

16 Explain the social factors that contributed to the emergence of mass spectator sport in the 19th century. (4 marks)

Watching elite sport has become easier due to increased media coverage andcommercialisation.

In 2009, the Deputy Leader of the Secondary Headteachers Association suggested that football should only be shown on television after the 9 o’clock watershed because of the bad example that it sets to children.

1 4 Discuss the suggestion that there has been a decline in sportsmanship since the late 19th Century and outline strategies that the sporting authorities have used in an attempt to maintain high standards of behaviour. (14 marks)