Neither of these statements can be deemed as right or wrong but can both be linked together to form a relatively correct definition of sport.
Sport involves both physical activity (any form of exercise or movement) and physical recreation (“the physical re-creating of the body and the person”).
(Watt, D. 2003)
These both need to be considered when discussing sport as they are both major elements that influence the definition of sport.
Sport can generally be defined as competitive rule-governed games with a set structure and an aim of a successful outcome, whether intrinsically or extrinsically.
The European Sports Charter (1993) states that, “Sports means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels.”
This suggests that there is more to sport than just a competitive rule governed activity and that it is very flexible when defining.
Development can simply be defined as when someone grows or changes and becomes more advanced, suggesting a new and improved outcome. This can be linked to sport as at some stage anyone participating in sport would have had to develop their skills to a sound level.
Sports development is a vast subject but can generally be summed up as, “getting more people to play sport,”
(Houlihan, B. 2003)
This definition is generally correct although there is a lot more depth to the aims of sports development and the processes and structures that have been set up, as B.Houlihan (2003) continues,
“Sports development is a process by which interest and desire to take part may be created in those who are currently indifferent to the message of sport; or by which those not now taking part, but well disposed, may be provided with appropriate opportunities to do so; or by which those currently taking part may be enabled to do so with meaningful frequency and greater satisfaction, thus enabling participants at all levels to achieve their full potential.”
Therefore, sports development can be summed up as devising better and more effective ways of generating interest and increasing the levels of participation, or supporting performance within sport. Also to aid and support organisations to better provide people with the opportunity to participate in sport within their organisation and the local community.
Sports development is about increasing participation within sport and advertising the benefits that playing sport has on people’s lives. Currently, “only 46% of the population participate in sport more than 12 times a year” (Game Plan, 2002)
There are many benefits that sport brings to individuals, such as health, economic and social benefits.
The benefits of physical activity on health are clear, “30 minutes of moderate activity five times a week can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, some cancers, strokes and obesity”.
(Game Plan 2005)
Regular participation in sport can help reduce these risks and support healthy growth in young people, and encourage a healthy lifestyle, to take into adulthood.
Sport can also help reduce healthcare costs and workplace absence and present a “feelgood factor” to people that take part in sport.
When people adopt this “feelgood factor” they are generally happy with the way they are and present a good image within their social community. This can then lead on to reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour and improving the quality of environments and creating a sense of peace, “some practitioners also report positive results from schemes that use sport to help to reduce crime and social exclusion.”
(Game Plan, 2002)
Sport can also boost the economy of a country and help to provide jobs related to sport in a variety of positions. The department for culture media and sport estimates that there are over 400,000 jobs related to sport and over £10 billion is spent on sports goods and activities. Sport is one of the main contributors to the total value of the leisure industry, helping it grow to over £150 billion, “the leisure industry is a growth industry, with a value approaching £150 billion in the United Kingdom in 2000.”
(Torkildsen, G. 2005)
This shows that sport is of economic importance to the gross national product of a country, and should be fully supported by the government.
There many aspects of sports development but as a whole the aims are to find more effective ways of generating interest, increasing participation and supporting performance within sport.
It is able to do this effectively as the aims are clearly linked towards developing individuals within sport and influencing them to participate and enjoy the sports they play. Sports development is also about helping organizations to better provide for a variety of sports within a community.
Sports development is a very successful area within sport due to the certain structures that exist. These structures include the sports development continuum, the house of sport continuum and the active framework continuum. Each continuum acts in a similar way although there is a slight difference in the way they operate.
The sports development continuum, (see appendix A) is a basic structure that takes individuals from the foundation stage (grass roots) to the Excellence stage where there they may be competing nationally or internationally within there chosen sport.
The foundation stage is about gaining interest from young children and helping them to discover and understand sport in a variety of ways. The continuum then moves up a stage to participation, where here the aim is to target those who have an interest in sport and encourage them to take part.
The next stage is the performance stage which is aimed at supporting participants within a particular sport, here they learn more about certain skills required and may start to compete against other performers. The last stage is the excellence stage which is aimed at supporting performers by giving them every opportunity to achieve their best.
The house of sport continuum (see appendix C) and the active framework continuum (see appendix B) are both related to the sports development continuum, although have a more complex shell which allows greater movement between the stages. However, the active framework continuum has no set stages, therefore a performer could jump from the learning stage straight into the world class stage and would not have to pass through the other stages to reach the goal.
Due to these structures there are many benefits towards sports development, these include some of their main aims. Such as increasing the number of participants within a community, helping sports organizations to increase the use of sporting facilities and equipment and to develop pathways to encourage promising young sports people to continue to the top, or the excellence stage.
Sports development officers have a vital role in setting up these structures and making sure they work to help develop performer’s abilities and skills. Therefore sports development would not happen without these people.
Sports development is a very vast subject and includes a variety of areas, although there is one main definition to define and describe the main aim of sports development,
“Getting more people to play sport,”
(Houlihan, B. 2003)
