Sociology Of Sports Sociology

Through sports many athletes have a connection that is majorly significant in the way that the impact of their experiences can be life-changing. When being apart of a cohesive team, specifically football, that collectively works hard together to reach a common goal each of the players become aware of the importance of responsibility, teamwork and other traits of good character. In that, there is an underlying understanding that sports can be influential to young participants by teaching life lessons that are associated with success both on and off the field. Good high school and almost all college level coaches adopt a philosophy with the idea that an athletes’ raw talent is just a small contribution to the teams’ success as well as their individual
In Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies, Coakley discusses this topic by referring to professional boxers from low-income backgrounds that were interviewed and observed in a boxing gym in Chicago by sociologist, Loïc Wacquant. He found that the main reason for engaging in training and fighting for most of the boxers was due to the refuge that the gym provided from the violence on the streets. In multiple of the interviews with the boxers they said that they wished they would have been born into better situations with more resources and that those who actually are do not box, which they wouldn’t either. Although this does not affect their level of dedication, as there is a silver lining to the sport, Coakley puts it as, “these men were simultaneously committed to and repulsed by their trade…” (Coakley, 2015, p. 279) For the situations of the teens at Kilpatrick it was a product of their negative decisions influenced by their bad backgrounds. Similar to the Chicago boxers in that the sport provided that type of support for the individuals and as Wacquant concluded, “They excelled at the sport because being a young, poor, black man in America is “no bed of roses”” (Wacquant, 2004, p. 238). However the fact of race was less prominent for the detainees, it was the similarity they had with sports, which provided that type of shelter and
Similar to Sean Porter, most coaches hold the belief that they are not only just a coach to their players in regards to the sport itself, but to life and producing good men. In an interview with Nick Saban in 2014, he responded to a question “What do you want your Alabama coaching legacy to be?” He responded by saying, “I love it when players come back and say, “you really helped me, I appreciate what you did to make me successful” that’s the thing that makes me feel best about being a coach.” (USA Today) In that I think that sports is an aspect of life that can be used as a tool to guide children/young adults down a path that leads towards success. Beginning a football program at the Kilpatrick detention center showed this impact of guidance due to the proper leadership of Coach Porter. He valued the lives of the young detainees and sought to make them better individuals by giving them worth through football. Therefore in the end, it all depends on the coach and his relationship with his players, without the powerful leadership shown by Sean Porter the results would have more than likely been insignificant and there would have been minimal impact in the lives of the players. A quote from the real Sean Porter captures this ideology, “On the Gridiron, we do it my way, not your way. Your way got you here. Whatever gang you claim,