British Sports
Recently, I’ve read an article British Sports History: The Present and the Future. As a student major in sports English, I feel that to learn a culture or a society through its sports is a good way.
Everyone will have their own definitions about what sport means to them. Camaraderie, excitement, and competition, those are the words which closely associate with sport. However, no one can deny the contribution of sport to growing up. We have valued learning how to handle adversity and loss; how to accept embarrassing failure. “The truth is that in life, you win some, and you lose some. Growing up means learning how to handle both with grace.” That is what Scott Johnson remarked when he looks back his good old days in varsity. The strength of sport is not only shown on individuals but also on culture and society. As the kingdom of sports creation, Britain has an astounding range of sports and a rich sports history. Therefore, it is worthwhile for us to study the topic of British sports.
Britain has a long history of sports, having figured prominently in their world-wide development. Many sports - for example football, golf, rugby, lawn tennis, horse racing and cricket - originated or were first popularized in Britain. About 29 million people over the age of 16 in Britain regularly take part in sport or exercise. Major British sporting events include the Football Association Cup Final, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Open Golf championship and the Grand National (horse racing), the Six Nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Republic of Ireland, France and Italy) rugby union tournament, and the Rugby World Cup.
It is not until after the Norman conquest of 1066 that we have regular, written records of sporting activity in Britain. Historians in Britain have shown clearly that sport was an active agent of British society and cultural life. Sports have made a special contribution to the study of social identities. Going back many years, opportunities for sport in Britain were prominent in the upper-class. In the 19th century, team sports such as cricket was a kind of “snob” game played by boys in the elite public schools and universities. Through sport, we can grasp what people belonged to and understand their social status in Britain. One of the leading UK political historians Peter Hennessy recently argued that “sport is immensely important to any series attempt to reconstruct a nation’s collective life in any period since the mid-to-late 19th century.” That shows how important a role sport plays in British history. Sport used to be a brutal, lawless affair without rules. But the Victorians changed all that. During the Victorian period people saw a drive towards a more civilized and controlled society. In sport this turned out to be a desire for rules and regulations, changing the emphasis from manly physical pursuits to moral and spiritual exercises with disciplines and a spirit of fair play. For instance, cricket became associated with a set of moral values, in particular the idea of “fair play” which characterized British government and eventually represented a kind of ideology throughout the late Victorian Empire.Sport is part of the fabric of British lives. Although we have plenty of evidence show that William I and his successors all valued the time they were able to dedicate to hunting and hawking, we know comparatively little of what the simple folks would do with their free time. As the end of the sixteenth century approached, more and more individuals participated in recreational activities. Sports and games had become increasingly woven into the fabric of the simple person’s day-to-day existence.
There are many other popular pastimes in Britain but none that draws so many attentions and makes people indulge so many passions into it. Football, the most followed sport in Britain is a good example. Bill Shankley, manager of Liverpool football club, once said “Football is not a matter of life and death. It’s more important than that.” In Britain, it is a fever, a passion and a lifetime hobby. Fans will spend all of their free time reading newspapers, team websites for any sort of news about their teams such as injuries, transfers, etc. Thus Eentrepreneurs have begun to realize that there is money to be made from the common persons’ leisure time. For brits, Having a drink at the local pub while watching football games on the TV becomes the most popular way of relaxing. However, the game of football has been associated with gambling and violence since its beginnings in 13th century England. Football Hooliganism has been called the ‘English Disease’ on many occasions. It is often reported in the media as resulting from excessive alcohol consumption.
Sport is also a part of landscape in Britain, through the depictions of the press and the media, more and more sport lovers in the world get access to know this beautiful nation. There is no doubt that sport is Britain’s culture ambassador. Manchester, Liverpool, and Arsenal all become the sounding names in the world with the help of football clubs. The world - famous Wimbledon grass court and the world-class golf courses such as St Andrews, Royal Birkdale (www.royalbirkdale.com/) attracts tourists from all over the world.
Sport has always been an indispensable theme in Britain. It mirrors Britain’s past, and possesses the ability to shape and influence social identities and cultures. It serves to put into outlook the resilience of man’s and woman’s longing to play in the face of social, political and economic upheavals. In addition, being the pioneers in popular sports, the British have contributed a lot to sport and created a better world for sport-lovers.
Access:http://www.swan.ac.uk/history/staff/johnes/stirling.pdf
