If you sit back and analyze different cultures, it won’t take you long to recognize a pattern many of them follow when it comes to sporting choices they make. Some religious beliefs or cultural backgrounds influence the physical activity they choose to pursue. For instance, in Islam, women have to keep their bodies covered up.
Also, negative experiences or acts of racism may be reason for certain minorities to avoid participating in specific sports. Cultural dichotomies such as the drinking culture in rugby or fasting during Ramadan can also influence the growth of a sport in a specific culture.
Competition as a Part of Culture
Competition is integral to a number of cultures around the world. It is often used to encourage its people to enhance skills so that they can achieve what they want. Sport is a critical aspect of such cultures, as it offers highly competitive environments that don’t necessarily have to turn hostile in the long run. Competition also offers an emotional drive for fans that support one team over the other. Many cultures encourage rivalries between teams and fans as a part of their social norms.
Sporting Heroes
How many of us have built a parallel life in our dreams as cricketers after we watched Sachin Tendulkar hit centuries in his career? It is common for cultures to have sport players who are revered and often given the status of a hero. Sport players are known to have significant influence on the value system of specific cultures. They tend to become a product of certain societies on the basis of what the society values as talent.
Value Systems
Each individual within a society plays a role in the growth of sports in their culture. When a child is exposed to sports by playing at football tournament venues in Mumbai or through the fan behavior of parents and other family members, they are likely to enjoy sports as well. Peers too have an influence on the acceptance of sports during our childhood years. If a society values physical activity and when sporting opportunities are made easily accessible, it becomes easy for a society to value sports. For instance, the growth of football tournament venues in Mumbai has an evident influence on the growth of football as a popular sport in the city. Also, communities that have professional sporting teams tend to place sports at a more valuable pedestal than those that don’t.
Cultural Customs
When sports become a part of everyday life, they become a part of culture. For instance, cricket has become India’s national pastime, often quoted to be a religion. Similarly, football plays an important role in the cultures of England, South America and Spain. Many cultures also focus their social activities on participation in these sports. For instance, weekends tend to be spent watching or playing at football tournament venues in Mumbai with family and friends.
That said there is always an exception to the rule. For instance, among the best golfers in the world is an African-American and one of the tallest NBA players is Chinese. Where you live, the culture you adopt and the way of life you lead all come together to form perceptions you have on sports and how you pursue them as you grow.