Reflections About Sport
Undoubtedly, some readers will not be particularly fond of this discussion as they rather see tips and articles related to athletic improvement and/or performance. However, the present status of sports and the role of coaches within such a sport system lends itself to closer examination, i.e. what sport is proposed to represent (should be) and what it actually is or has become!
I have been aware for a long time about the abuse although researching and preparing this month's Newsletter I got angrier by the minute about the increase – at any level – and society’s apparent toleration (sense of acceptance) as issues were/are ‘swept under the rug.’ I do not ‘wade’ into political or philosophical debates or reflection very often but I ‘shifted gears’, and did some serious reflection on the perceived notion of sport versus the reality in our sporting world.
I also interjected my own feelings and experience as an elite athlete and coach in several sports during my lengthy career (artistic gymnastics, rhythmic sportive gymnastics, modern pentathlon [swimming and running events], and athletics track & field), and coach educator in Canada for the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). These opportunities provided multiple chances to deal with various athletic groups, sports organizations, and competitive events. Believe me, I thought I had seen it all!
My younger brother Alois Schloder, International Hall of Fame Hockey Player, and Captain of the German National Team in 3 Winter Olympics (Bronze medal 1976) happened to send me excerpts from my Keynote presentation at the Annual Athlete Award Ceremony, December 1, 1994, in Landshut, Bavaria. Wow! Was I ever way ahead of the times! And many thought I was ‘nuts’ – and that was a mild expression!
I had asked the audience of over 500 several thought-provoking questions in the introduction – the same I pose to university students and athletes in Calgary: What does your sport really mean to you? Is sport nowadays even of any value or is it all about making money, the Nike endorsement, and getting on the cover of the ‘Wheaties box?’ Does sport even make sense any longer or do we even need sport in our society that has become so problematic and more complex? The audience was quiet and ‘shell shocked!’ YES!
… The True Meaning and Function of Play and Sport …
From philosophical and sociological perspectives (from university lectures):
…“SPORT… is said to be a global and universal involvement – a form of nonverbal communication, the ‘language of the body’, a language anybody in the world can understand” (Schloder 2018). It is both fascinating and emotional – a drama played out in front of worldwide audiences as people either watch or participate. Most children and youth are ‘in love with sports and their sport idols,’ dreaming to become one of them. Whether or not the particular sport experience for a child is going to be rewarding depends exclusively on the people who are in charge of such programs (Schloder 2018).
The late Arthur Ashe, Tennis, wrote in his postscript of “Days of Grace” 1994:
...“Sports are wonderful: they can bring you comfort and pleasure for the rest of your life. Sports can teach you so much about yourself, your character, how to be resolute in moments of crisis and how to fight back from the brink of defeat. In this respect, the lessons of sport cannot be duplicated easily. You quickly discover your limits but you can alsobuild self-confidence and a positive sense of yourself.
Never think of yourself as being above sports”…
German literature of the Enlightenment era is full of essays about the meaning of physical education and sport. Prominent philosophers such as Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) mused about ‘play and the aesthetics:’
Schiller: “Man only plays when he is in the fullest sense of the word a human being, and he is only fully a human being when he plays!” (Relax! ‘Man’ is used in the universal sense of ‘a human being or mankind’ – no political correctness was needed then!).
Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga wrote ‘Homo ludens’ [Man at play], the ‘bible’ for modern physical education, suggesting that ‘play is primary to- and a necessary – though not sufficient – condition of the generation of culture.’ Ludus has no direct equivalent in English as it simultaneously refers to sport, play, and practice.
Friedrich Wilhelm Fröbel (1782-1852), German pedagogue laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities. He created the concept of the ‘Kindergarten’ and coined the word, which soon entered the English language as well. Likewise, he developed educational toys known as Fröbel’s gifts. He believed that ‘children are trees and flowers in a garden, blossom or die without proper nourishment or being watered.’ Therefore, children’s ‘free play’ is essential.
Given our era of modern tech gadgets, we can already see, according to experts, that the addiction to the ‘technical toys’ nowadays is having tremendous affect on children’s brains, their learning, and creative capacities! Modern sociologists have maintained the belief that children need to experience ‘free play’ before shifting to sport participation because they learn in play to be creative, make decisions, discover personal limits, and develop personal characteristics.
Traditionally, society has held and reinforced beliefs that Sports …
Develop leadership skills
Build friendships
Enhance team membership (feeling of belonging)
Grow a healthy body and mind
Create life-long memories
Allow following one’s dreams
Provide Fun
Schloder: Nostalgia about Childhood ‘Play’
The notion of ‘free play’ brings back many childhood memories in Germany… nostalgia is setting in … Our street group played ‘Völkerball’ (Nation’s ball – similar to dodgeball); players pick the name of a given country; when called up, the player has to catch the ball – when missing – the player is ‘out.’ If caught, the player assumes the new role of ‘calling the nation’.
Never mind lunch breaks during the summer! We played modified soccer for hours, robbers & bandits, and ‘hide and seek.’ We built castles in the sandbox near the small creek (absolutely amazing creations); several older volunteers (!) guarded these overnight in order to defend our ‘artefacts’ against potential invasion or destruction.
Our crew of six carried the large tin tub (12 foot long) one kilometer upward the same creek to paddle downward, pretending to be German adventurers in the American Old West (based on stories by Karl May [1842-1912], the favoured writer of our time. The main protagonists were Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. The latter was a fictional German character and blood brother of Winnetou, the fictional chief of the Mescalero tribe of the Apache. He was the main character in the 1964 movie by the same name, starring Lex Barker. Yes, I always had to be the ‘squaw for the men tribe in the tub!’
I would not trade these memories for anything! However, today’s children and youth have become in fact socially isolated due to the ‘Flimmerbox’ [Schloder’s label for TV], their addiction to high-tech gadgets, video games, and texting as these have become the new ‘substitutes for free play.’ The consequences are now apparent with the increase of depression, vaping, opioid and Cannabis use, and the surge of suicides among the young (as young as 12 years).
I wrote about my childhood experience in the essay “The Return to the Sandbox” for the 3-M Fellowship Award for Outstanding Teaching at Canadian Universities (1996) – the second national award for the University of Calgary.
Excerpts:
…During my childhood in Germany, ten or fifteen of us would meet daily after school at the neighbourhood sandbox where we collectively created a variety of projects from castles to zoos. We shared and discussed different ideas, agreed and disagreed, and decided which ideas to build on.
Sometimes we worked silently. Sometimes the process was very dynamic, and sometimes it was competitive as we voted for the best solution. One of my favorite games was ‘add on’ where we took an idea and everyone built on it to see what was going to be the final outcome. This process encourages creative and innovative thinking as well as critical analysis, which we children called ‘free play’ [not organized by adults!]…
Throughout my lengthy teaching career, I have always discussed the process of ‘creative thinking’ with students in senior classes. While the final outcome was at all times gratifying the undertaking was frequently frustrating because students ‘felt handicapped or embarrassed,’ afraid to ‘say something stupid or wrong’ (their explanation) instead of speaking ‘freely and taking a risk!’ You see, they have been taught, and consequently have learned to offer feedback to ‘please professors’ – although not in my classes! Shock!
To the Reader:
What does Fun or Enjoyment in your sport mean to you? Has the meaning changed over time? If, so… Why? Do you even enjoy sport now? If you did sports and still are active do you still enjoy that activity? Why? How do you show others that you do enjoy it? Does the media ever influence your thinking about sport?
…BECAUSE…Sport can be…
… Freude – but also Fron and Paradox…
[Fun-Enjoyment – and also Grind and Paradox]
…And – Sport Is No Longer Sport…When...
(Schloder, 1994, Annual City Athlete Award Ceremony: Landshut, Bavaria)
‘’Free Play’ versus Sport
‘Free play’ is said to be about gaining personal enjoyment and satisfaction from ‘feeling liberated’ (no constraints imposed from- and by adults), promotes personal initiative, a capacity for self-rule and authenticity. These are still social values expected in our modern society – although they are rarely exhibited, according to many executives in the business world!
‘Free play’ is said to nurture emotions, encourage sociability, cordiality, and acceptance of- and by playmates; it teaches to strive, evaluate, appreciate the self, and the cooperation/teamwork of others.
This holds true even for the best athletes. Michael Jordan, famous NBA basketball player, stated two years before his retirement: I have Fun playing alone at home against my own shadow after midnight under the moonshine. My movements under the basket become fantastic. Unfortunately, I am not permitted to play that way nor can I ever play that way in a real-game scenario. NHL hockey great Wayne Gretzky stated at his retirement: ‘It just was no longer Fun or enjoyable.’
Because …Sport Should Be:
Sport should be about the ability to perform at one’s best level not about ‘having to- or must’ perform (forced performance).
Sport should be valued in our society but not be transformed into a ‘cult’ by any sport-organization.
Schloder: Athlete and Enjoyment
Enjoyment was:
Watching the gracefulness and beauty in the 1984 Olympics as British pair skaters Torville and Dean breezed to the Gold medal in their revolutionary routine to ‘Bolero’ and changed the event forever
Achieving personal best performance without setting a record
Pursuing the Olympic: Citius – Altius – Fortius = Faster – Higher – Stronger as a personal aspiration
When opponents appreciate my effort…because ‘compete’ (Latin competare) means ‘striving together’ for best performances NOT against each other (example: hurting the opponent or ‘beating the ‘crap’ out of each other with the ‘kill them attitude’ as evident in many hockey games)
When one is able to test personal ‘agony’ (Classical Greek), displayingcourage, a certain degree of bravery, boldness, daring, valour, gallantry, prowess, and self-confidence
When one is able to overcome competition anxiety and/or training mentality
When one continues to strive to remain brave, honourable, noble, righteous, and fair in competition
When one remains ‘humane and humble’ despite success or lack of it (losing)
Schloder: Coach (based on true events)
Enjoyment:
When the 8-year old swimmer trades his gold medal at the State Championships for a pink ribbon because that color is still missing in his collection
When one is able to develop a recreational and competitive swim team to college swimmers from baby swim lessons in Tempe, Arizona, and follow their progress
When the competitive team, Team America (6-21 years), discuss issues at Fridays’ after practice in a ‘King Arthur’s Round Table’ format and create their own behaviour rules and consequences, and then passes them on to the coach
When the team has the courage to say: Coach – it’s time to laugh, please!
When a Tot (4 years) says: Teacher ‘Momka,’ when I get big I want to be like you (many tots could not pronounce ‘Monika’)
When one can learn from children because mutual respect has developed between swimmers and teacher/coach
When the young gang member, recruited into the Minority leadership program in Los Angeles remarks casually: Coach, you're dope, cool and you give me a high (AAF project to develop Minority gang adolescents into Community coaches)
When a Minority swim team in the LA Watts area is created and increases to over 4000 members under the AAF project leadership
When 217 former gang member graduate as community coaches from the AAF project
When one can send the ‘thank you’ to the Lord because one was given the chance and opportunity to educate the young
Present Sport Reality
Sport has become ‘Fron’
The German language has an exceptionally rich vocabulary for many words with multiple expressions with interesting definitions for Sport: Fronarbeit (forced labor); Sklavenarbeit or Zwangsarbeit (drudgery, slave labor); Bürde or Last (burden); Joch (yoke); Knechtschaft (bondage); Plage (affliction). That’s pretty heavy!
Let’s see how this applies!
…Modern sport has become an aberration, distortion, or potential tolerated chaos, a social dilemma with a display of violent behaviour! It has been transformed to the pursuit of “winning at all costs” – no matter what – rampant use of doping and performance-enhancing drugs despite controls, and the increase of violence tolerated in so many sports, especially in team sports…
Coaches ‘force’ athletes to overcome set obstacles in training, competition, and games disregarding injuries or sickness
Athletes are made to endure continuous frustration in training and competitions without counsel or mental assist
Athletes are made to deal with their psyche and/or prolonged problems in training or competitions without little assistance
Athletes are socially isolated from the team when injured
Athletes are made to perform daily training routines to perfection without regard to personal issues (sickness, school exams, death in the family, etc.)
Athletes have to develop patience and effort without emotional assistance from coaches
When athletes have to deal with slow performance increases without proper assistance from impatient coaches
Athletes forced to learn about enhancing self-knowledge without guidance from coaches
Athletes have to make solid and good decisions without proper guidance from coaches
Athletes having to depend on teammates without proper social interaction
Athletes having to deal with negative and derogatory attitudes, and verbal abuse by coaches
Question:
How do athletes (or coaches) feel about daily training? How do they display their enjoyment – if any?
Is the training environment learner/athlete/performer or coach-centered?
Is the training environment positive and safe or is it a ‘bellyache?’
Are athletes grumbling during regular training routines?
Do athletes and coaches display enjoyment/fulfilment only when winning (always easy) or likewise when placing second, third, etc.?
Selected Examples:
Dilemma in Children and Youth Sports
As early as 1990, the Athletic Footwear Association (AFA) released a report entitled “American Youth and Sports Participation” that examined teenagers (ages 10-18 years) and their feelings about their sport involvement. It was the culmination of an extensive study of more than 10,000 young people from 11 cities across the U.S. in which issues related to the reasons teenagers participate, reasons they quit, and their feelings about winning. The results indicate that (a) participation in organized sports declines sharply as youngsters get older, (b) “fun” is the key reason for involvement, and “lack of fun” is one of the primary reasons for discontinuing, (c) winning plays less of a role than most adults would think, and (d) not all athletes have the same motivations for their involvement.
Despite these results, little has changed. In fact, the rate of burnout and subsequent dropout in children and youth sports has been rising steadily over the past years. Sport sociologists and other experts estimate that close to 73% leave sports by the age 12-13 years, citing very similar reasons as in the AFA study.
Beginner Athletes:
Over the years, I have discovered that children transfer or are recruited from so-called recreational lessons into beginner competitive programs without proper skill possession, pertinent information about new requirements, expectations, and commitment. In addition, there is no transition into competitive levels in many sports. In my opinion, this is unacceptable because uncertainty contributes to the children’s tension, anxiety, and self-doubt.
Swimming:
For example, 6-8 year old developmental swimmers in Calgary transfer from swim lessons, and were quickly entered into 50m and 100m front crawl events when they could barely manage 25m, messing up their turns – if they got that far – stopping in the middle of the lap to cry! That really enhances self-esteem! But the team wanted the extra points! In my opinion, this is emotional and psychological abuse but the approach still continues to this day!
Gymnastics:
Gymnastics training in Calgary takes on ‘torture chamber flavour’ for 11-year old boys, forced by the Chinese coach into stretching positions against the wall, and told to enrol in recreational programs if not attending the 27 hours of training sessions per week.
Wrestling:
Athletes in wrestling are taught early on to learn about several methods to lose weight in order to ‘wrestle down’ (lesser weight class) – which has resulted in numerous deaths in US High school wrestling so far as young wrestlers carry forward their established weight loss methods to the college/university level.
Elite and Professional Athletes:
‘Fron’ at this stage means:
Giving up leisure time or hobby sports as training now is the substitute
Having to prolong or delay indefinitely education and vocational training
Having to battle with the self as sport ‘agon’ slowly develops into agony
Losing control over the self, and overall picture/meaning of one’s personal life
Artistic Gymnastics:
For now, I can report that the above 4 points are closely or entirely true for this sport at the elite level. In her 2000 edition, Joan Ryan, San Francisco Herald reporter, describes the treatment and training methods for young gymnasts, starting at the age of 12 years (Ryan, ‘Little girls in pretty boxes’, 1995, 2000). The stories are not only disturbing but also very offensive. One could call it a ‘criminal’ practice as physical, psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse was rampant during the reign of USA famous Romanian coaching couple Bela and Martha Karolyi, who ran the USA program like a dictatorship. Gymnasts trained 6-8 hours per day with only Sundays off; school became secondary in the pursuit to make the Olympic team. Parents, especially mothers, lived vicariously through the success of their daughters, and ‘conveniently’ overlooked the happenings in the gym and/or the sexual abuse once it became known. Gymnasts developed – and still do – anorexia nervosa, depression, numerous injuries, suicide attempts, the occurrence of death due to starvation (Christy Henrich at 49 pounds), deaths in competition on the uneven bars (Melanie Colman), and heinous new vault requirement (Julissa D'anne Gomez). Judges saw themselves as dominant forces telling gymnasts to lose weight while any new skill had to be more complex to earn higher point values – but really to attract greater TV audiences – never mind the health of the athletes!
Figure Skating:
The same holds true for this sport, as lengthy hours of training are required. Verbal, psychological, and emotional abuse is part of a so-called motivational tactical ‘game’ to force skaters to continue hard-core training. In the year since former national champion John Coughlin died by suicide, figure skating has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse allegations. A former coach from Minnesota was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage female skater. Incantalupo, 48, of St. Louis Park (MN) had been accused of repeatedly assaulting his former skater between the ages of 14 to 16 years.
Classical Ballet:
Dance has its own ‘dark side’ as rigorous 6-8 or more hours of training are common in order to make the performing group on stage. It is not only physical but also emotionally draining. The high rate of injuries (groin, hamstring, knees, ankles), and the daily care of sore toes and feet (on point dancing) necessitates soaking in cold water to dull the pain. Constant lecturing and reminding about the perfect dancer’s figure, ‘slim and thin’, has led to extensive anorexia and bulimia as described by Canada’s prima ballerina Evelyn Hart from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
Swimming:
As discussed in the February Newsletter, USA and Canada Swimming, both had their share of abuse whether physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual in nature.
Physical: During my coaching years I witnessed many incidences of abuse under the slogan ‘No pain – No gain’ and Vince Lombardy’s “winning isn't everything, it's the only thing” phrase – as yard/meters in daily training and the so-called Xmas Boot camps by clubs, which demand what I call ‘yardage-garbage’ training because sprint events do not need training of 10,000 yards/meters rather event-specific training to correspond what is needed in competition. Training has to reflect what the body has to reproduce performing in the real-life competition, not some vastly overtraining leading to burnout and potential injuries (rotator cuffs, low back pain, knee injuries).
Psychological/Emotional/Physical: I am aware of coaches, who do not permit ‘water or bathroom breaks’ as a matter of principle or as punishment. In the former, swimmers dehydrate, which affects focus, concentration, and performance. In the latter, swimmers just urinated in the Pool! During my coaching on deck, swimmers had an automatic water break using their bottles or re-fill them every 10 minutes, whether needed or not; we had small bowls of sliced oranges (vitamin C) at each lane. Rule: no mess on deck but it took awhile to convince those lifeguards! Swimmers could take a Toilet break whenever needed although the return time had to be reasonable to resume training. Training methods and ensuing harsh practices have led to swimmers suffering from mineral deficiencies such as zinc, copper, magnesium, etc., which usually require medical lab tests.
Wrestling:
As stated previously, young wrestlers in club or high school varsity programs carry forward weight loss methods they have acquired. This involves drastic fasting, vomiting, excessive exercise in saunas or wearing sweatsuits, rubber, vinyl, and plastic suits or similar artificial heating devices, and diuretics or other dehydrating practices for quick weight reduction to drop 10 pounds or more quickly.
Sport and the Paradox: Definition
When sport is never just 'play' in the true sense
The contradiction to- or running contrary to expectation[s]
The combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another
The fact or state of being inconsistent
The inconsistency between expressed attitudes and actual behaviour (what takes place)
The seemingly paradoxical conclusion arising from an inconsistent or inherently contradictory definition of the initial premise
Sport, at times, becoming a mixture of ‘comedy’ (funny incidents) and tragedy (competition loss, injuries, deaths)
Application to Sport:
In addition to the previous philosophical discussion, sport is said to derive from the Latin ‘disportare’ (portare = carry; disportare = carry away; digress; remove) meaning that one partakes to get away from the daily grind or problem – but then sport becomes exactly that daily grind (‘fron’), frustration, and problematic when taking up seriously. Then, athletes no longer participate for enjoyment rather their body becomes the ‘machine’ to be sculpted chiseled, and tuned for that perfect performance.
Sport, through its very preoccupation with competition, pushes athletes to live with certain anxieties as opposed to being a psychological avocation, i.e., that sport is a ‘cure’ for anxiety, a remedy for stress release, and relaxation [leisure]. Athletes are no longer individuals but become an instrument of victory or defeat. Therefore, they turn into an object, are reduced to a ‘thing’ that performs the given and required function of training, competition, and games. They are no longer in control or in charge over the self, and are now a product because sport has developed into an economic and materialistic culture.
Examples of Paradox:
The term ‘amateur’ (lover of) originated in the early 1920s and translated to sporting amateurism as a zealously guarded ideal, especially among the upper classes in those times. They engaged in sports activities for the ‘love of the sport’ as non-professional and without enumeration. What was once the ideal sport has now become work (labora), frustration, and ‘having’ to workout or train.
‘Fron’…When…
Family and friends are neglected because sport demands full-time engagement
Athletes suffer health issues and injuries instead of using sport to enhance and pursue healthy lifestyles
Drugs and doping start to pervade sport, and athletes argue… ‘everybody does it, why not me?’
82% of parents in a 1990s survey admit that they would support the doping of their children if they could win a gold medal even when death would occur after five years – total madness and a paradox!
Female athletes were forced to become pregnant and then abort to increase their hormone level
Female athletes – future mothers – were doped and then suffer several miscarriages after retiring
Athletes commit suicide because of severe depression, feeling of worthlessness, drug use, painkillers, and alcohol dependency. A review of literature from 1960-2000 revealed 71 cases of athletes, who contemplated, attempted or completed suicide.
A soccer player commits suicide because he scores in his own net
Athletes are not able to adjust to ‘after pro-life’, are ‘totally lost’, feel without purpose, and seek the solution via drugs and alcohol (especially true for NHL ex-hockey players.
Conclusion:
When sport as a national and cultural pursuit becomes ‘cult-like’, becomes laced with various degrees of greed, stinginess, selfishness, aggressiveness, and violence, it becomes unethical, immoral, and dehumanizing. It is an alienation, performance without dignity. It reflects the loss of our value system and a sense of community. Sport at that point has become the opposite of its original meaning. It has transformed itself to become an irony, a social dilemma, degeneration, madness, and unhealthy as society is moving toward the inevitable – a social and moral crash!
…And – Sport Is No Longer Sport…When...
A young sports fan displays this behavior …
References:
Ashe, A (1994). Days of grace: A memoir. NY: Ballantine.
Huizinga, J. (1938). Homo ludens [Man at play]. Netherlands: Penguin Random House.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Friedrich_
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Henrich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller
Paplauskas-Ramunas, A. (1968). Development of the whole man through physical education. Ottawa, ON, CAN: The University of Ottawa Press.
Petlichkoff, L. (1992). Youth sport participation and withdrawal: Is it simply a matter of fun? Pediatric Exercise Journal, Vol. 4(2), pp. 105-110. https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/pes/4/2/article-p105.xmlh
Ryan, J. (2000). Little girls in pretty boxes. The making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters (Rev. Ed.). NY: Warner Books.
Ryan, J. (1995). Little girls in pretty boxes. The making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters (1st ed.). The making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters. NY: Doubleday.
Schloder, M.E. (2006). Lecture series: Sociology of sport. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary/Kinesiology Dept.
Schloder, M.E. (2004). Lecture series: Philosophy of sport. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary/Kinesiology Dept.
Schloder, M.E. (1996). Return to the sandbox. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from https://3mcouncil.stlhe.ca/initiative/making-a-difference-a-celebration-of-the-3m-national-teaching-fellowship/return-to-the-sandbox/
Schloder, M.E. (1994). Sport today- Enjoyment – Fron and Paradox. Keynote Presentation. Landshut, Bavaria: Annual Athlete Award Ceremony.
Slusher, H.S. (1967). Man, sport and existence. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.