Ὀλυμπιακοὶ Ἀγώνες
Sport is a human production derived from the culture, which thereby represents the
conquest in the human evolution towards the need of sublimation the people`s
destructive capacity. At the same time is a reflexion of every socio-historical moment for every human
community. Nowadays vision of the sport
that serves economical system prevails; using sport for different aims as the
construction of excluding identities, or simply for being one consumable more,
with all the paraphernalia of the merchandising and the uncountable gadgets.
The sport as a tool for achieving utilitarian aims, and as a commercial result,
is the dominating vision in the occidental societies, but not for it we must
resign ourselves that will be the unique possible paradigm.
The sport inherently has a lot of
virtues among which we can highlight the harmony between body and mind, being a
sociability tool, facilitation the approaching between different cultures, and,
moreover, all the rich possibilities that sport offers as an instrument for the
personal and collective growth. These attributions can make a sport something
exceptionally positive.
In
spite of the possible qualities it is also true that it is only necessary to make
a torn for different sport disciplines and to see quickly that the reality in
these occasions is other. The esthetical society models of the image dissociate
mind and body. How many times we saw the continuous example of the people who
want to lose weight and to take adventure in a marathon journey under a justice
sun, without water, and without any knowledge about what they demand from themselves,
thinking that they are doing sport. All of us know someone who is dedicated to
crush oneself alone among the gym machines as a robot sacrificing only for the
stereotypical picture, proving that this is sport. Usually the media offers us
broadcasting of football matches that show extreme violence between fans and
sometimes also between the players. Journey after journey, in a lot of inferior
categories, these scenes are repeated as mantra. Sometimes they are emulated.
Also we can’t forget the sport version that insists on the obligatory roles`
division between women and men as an intentional way to build a social
discourse. Men win; women, like garnish, give them the cups. The male
competitions invade the TV share, the female competitions are exceptional, and
the mixed competitions are obviated. The personal and the collective growth are
relegated to the stereotypes of the social triumph throughout the sport,
especially for the children that want to emulate the media idols. Imitation is an
attempt to become the same like other who is shown to us as ideal ones. To say that every sportsmen and sportswomen want to be the best
player, rich, and beautiful is to stand on the position of reductionism.
It is dangerous that the neurotic behaviours of their idols, like trainers,
slid without control to the verbal or physical aggression, just to make some
examples. The sport has transformed in a new religion with dogmas of faith.
In
general the sport society promote players, who play in the more restrictive and
random sense. They must have success, but not achievement, though without
understanding that they depend of their own efforts in the meeting with
themselves, in a lot of sport modalities by work in team. The opponent is only
a tool to show that the real opponent is inside. The sport rival mainly is an
opportunity for overcoming yourself, but especially for growth. The referees,
the negative influence of the own group, the external pressure, and the social
expectations about the triumph are the principal proves to convert all the
sport into a random and demanding game. All the motivation is left in an
external locus. The victory converts in something uniquely important, the
process is obviated. The individuality of personal success dominates over the
most possible concept of team that we can imagine.
Fortunately,
not all of the sport projects are in this line, there are those that look for
truly players, people who learn to take care of themselves and their team
mates, who are learning to grow up with little failures, which can serve them
as motivation for their personal development. This is an inclusive sport
vision.
It
took a lot of time to learn to sublimate the aggressive drive that emerges from
every subject, and that sport mutes the battle field and the roman circus for
new gladiators instead of raising the ace, or fight till death shoulder to
shoulder, change their weapon for tennis rockets, baseball bat, or symbolise
throughout the dribbling technic how to overcome the rival. It is necessary to
make a new step forward, promote sport vision that finishes with the consumer
watcher’s passivity, and that sport practices will not be under the service of an
alienating consumption system. We must empower other paradigm where sport will
be a tool and the sportsman and sportswoman will be the aim. It equals that the
sportsmen, regardless of their age and condition, will learn to recognize
themselves using sports activity, getting to know their body, and socializing
with the others playing in team sports or individually. There the teenagers and
youngsters can train for learning to overcome different situations as life
metaphors, learning to tolerate the frustration of our continuous desires, converting
the frustration in a challenge to mature. A sports discourse based on the concept
that all the people can enjoy the different moments of their lives doing sports
as life habit: educative, healthy and social.
