Engagement in and esteem for sports, whether on a competitive level or as a recreational pastime, are things that often seem to be heavily lacking, both in individuals and society as a whole, with many people failing to get as much exercise as they should and with an increasing number of schools refusing to recognise 'winners' or achievement in sports - some even taking the extreme step of ceasing to hold events such as Sports Day altogether. Attitudes like this are baffling considering the enormous benefits that societies and individual lifestyles rich in physical activity can enjoy, and the highly negative impact that stifling sports has.
To get it out of the way early, perhaps the most obvious benefit sport brings is that it improves the health of those who play regularly. With 2/3 of adults and 1/3 of children in the UK classed as obese, there is clearly a greater need now more than ever for people to reflect on their lifestyle, and wonder whether they could stand to add some sort of activity to it. Apart from anything else, the physical and mental effects of obesity can have a vast, negative impact upon someone's life, in stark contrast to the positive effects that physical activity brings. Whilst poor diet is a factor, simply following the standard guidelines and engaging in 30 minutes of activity a day can have a dramatic effect on a previously sedentary individual - apart from anything else, it gives all those calories you're taking in somewhere to make themselves useful.
There are other more serious problems that disengagement from sport can result in as well, particularly amongst age groups still in education (including you, good reader). A strong sporting culture in any place of education is a great thing for the school/university community as a whole, as it gives a it a source of pride and an area in which it can excel, as well as somewhere that the community can come together and unite in support of their team. On an individual level, there is also the issue that to rob some people of sporting success leaves them little else to cherish and little reason to feel good about themselves (see Matza's study on delinquency, in which he cites crime as a replacement for the thrills and status that would otherwise be gained on a sports pitch).
My old school is one of the many that unfortunately falls into the category of 'apathetic' when it comes to sports: I saw many home matches played in front of crowds smaller than 20, and sports results were treated as a mild curiosity by teachers, being given barely more significance than an A4 piece of paper on the Sports' department's notice board. This can destroy the sense of achievement that those engaged in sports can feel following a success (imagine if your family shrugged and returned to whatever they were doing after you announced that you had gained a First), and devalues participation in sport to the extent that even playing casually can feel pointless. This then destroys motivation to participate (after all, who wants to put that much effort into something worthless?) and sport can soon become a sideline activity, granted little importance as a part of people's lives.
Whilst the physical benefits of encouraging people to engage in sport are undeniably enormous, the very culture surrounding sport is something which is itself to be highly prized. This is why sports cannot be allowed to be marginalised and devalued throughout educational establishments, as bringing people up with no regard for sport will ultimately uproot sport from its place in society as a whole, damaging not only national health but also national culture, esteem and community.
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