ATHLETIC COMPETITION FOR THE YOUNG

Abstract

A large part of the rationale behind the impetus which sport presently enjoys has come from sorne educators and youth leaders who claim that sport is the panacea for all the problems confronting youth today. It is believed by many that qualities such as cooperation, courage, and group loyalty are natural outcomes of sports participation. Sport, it is argued, is capable of developing human values and, in fact, reshaping the personality of the participant. There is widespread support for the theory that competitive athletics, particularly those of the vigorous bodily contact variety, serve as a normal outlet for aggressive tendencies and thus have an ameliorative effect on many participants. It is further held that participation in physical activities promotes not only sportsmanship and tolerance, but also brotherhood and international goodwill. Reuben Frost comments on the role of sports in our society today as follows: "One of the most universally held tenets is that sports are a microcosm of life itself and thus serve as a laboratory where a positive value system may be formulated and developed."