A new page, Recreation>Description, has been added to my Sports notebook for My Idea Outlet. The contents can be found below.
I keep hearing about the obesity crisis in America. There are two reasons that people cite for this problem. The first is diet. The other is that people no longer live physically active lifestyles.
For years, I have been joking about a possible solution. If only we could find a way to turn physical activity into a game. Physical activity in the form of a game is essentially one way to define sports.
The primary reason that sports have been ineffective in fighting obesity is because we care about sports more as an elitist pursuit of than as a form of recreation. We push children into sporting commitments before they have had the opportunity to learn what sports are out there.
Schools try to develop star athletes. Championships and development of pros can boost a school's reputation. Winning is more important than the love of the game. We push technical skills without any regards to the impact on enjoyment.
By the time we reach adulthood, many people stop playing in favor of watching elite-level athletes. This includes professional leagues and the Olympic games.
I don't want to do too much to devalue the accomplishments of elite athletes. If people want to watch sports, I won't fight it. My concern is that we are putting too little value in sports as a form of recreation.
Currently, there are too few opportunities to pursue sports recreationally. Children should be encouraged to try numerous sports to discover what they love. Enjoyment of the sports need to be put above winning. While a desire to win can provide motivation to put in the effort, we should still be able to have fun when we lose. At older ages, recreational leagues should embrace the idea that some people have never played before. We need development and learning opportunities rather than just an opportunity for people to continue playing the sports from their childhoods.
I have several ideas regarding how to shift the focus of sports more towards a recreational activities. I will try to explain them here. I will also try to look at how recreational leagues and events could be structured. Those will go in another section.
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