Social Issues in Sport

involvement in sport.  The males dominate in procession of TV coverage compared to women, I think women participate nearly just as much as men nowadays in various sports and recreations but few women can use sport as a profession. It was great to watch World Cup of women’s football this year and I hope this inspires more women and media interest.         The use of drugs is constantly hitting the newspapers each year with athletes determined to succeed and risk their reputation and life. It is a very competitive world out there and some athletes will do anything to achieve their goals.         Racial abuse amongst sport is something that disgusts me and I will always frown upon. I was brought up in Trinidad in a black culture and feel I can maybe put myself in their shoes when confronting racial abuse. We are all human beings, regardless of colour, gender and race and should be treated fairly and equal as the next human being.         Hooliganism and violence has no place in sport. I think sport should be played with passion, gamesmanship and ethics in a safe environment for families to enjoy and watch. With CCTV and police strategies I believe hooliganism is deteoriating, but there shall always be some individual or group with values one way Or another to cause trouble or jeopardise a sporting event for other friendly innocent individual/group.         Finally, depending on the individual’s social class, the constraints of participating, travelling and paying for equipments and courts/pitches will vary. Some people are fortunate to be wealthy, have the luxury to pay for coaching lessons, travelling to destinations to practice and buy clothes/sporting equipment. If you are not so privileged to be a lower working class, it would may be difficult to find the time or money to train or pay for necessary costs. I think more facilities and better transport may help in creating a better equality of opportunities for the public and the lower social classes.   My conclusion is that there have always been social issues, there are numerous other social issues I haven’t mentioned and there will always be social issues in sport in all corners of the world. My main concern is to crack down on racism, discrimination, also women given equal opportunites in wages and career opportunities as men. I know this would be a hard task to tackle but nothing is impossible.word count 498 References Social Issues in Sport – Mike Sleap (1998) Social Issues in Sport – Ronald B. Woods (2007)