Since we all got to briefly present and discuss each of our mediated artifacts, I thought this would be a good chance to talk about the other object that I had considered bringing: a soccer ball. I decided against bringing this to class because I didn’t especially feel like carrying it around all day, but I think that it represents the pressures and choices that a lot of people our age make.
A soccer ball can represent the choice we make to become involved in sports. I know that when I was in kindergarten, I started playing soccer because my older sister played, and I loved to do everything she did. I found that I did actually love it, but later I also realized that I loved running. My decision to get involved in running was also influenced by someone else; the track coach who was looking for more members of the track team. My decision to join sports was not just my own, but I continued playing because I loved the feeling of a great workout, and having a close team of friends that enjoyed the same things I did.
People join sports for many reasons, although it’s often a decision that is influenced by some external force. Many people join sports because their parents want them to, some do it to make friends, some just love the sport, and others do it for all of these reasons. The external pressures to make certain decisions are not necessarily dictated by other people; hometown is also a major factor in the sports opportunities for athletes. Certain areas tend to have superior sports programs than others, for example high school soccer programs in New York and California tend to be better than those in Idaho. On such a large scale, the area you live in may dictate what sport you are pressured to join. If you live in Utah, you’re probably more likely to become a skier than if you live in Hawaii. Even on a smaller scale, the athletic opportunities can vary from city to suburb. The other night, I asked my friend, who plays squash, why she had joined squash. She told me that she grew up in a neighborhood that had squash courts at the country club down the road, so since her family had a membership and it was so accessible, she gravitated to that sport. I on the other hand, had hardly heard of squash before coming to college; I hadn’t realized that it could be a varsity sport at high schools or colleges. Growing up in the city, squash wasn’t a popular sport, and even now I wouldn’t even know where to find the nearest squash court.
This ties in an even larger, broader pressure in deciding the sports we play: socio-economic status. Although it would be nice to have the chance to play any sport, realistically, few have that opportunity. Not everyone can afford sports equipment, and although equipment prices vary (running is probably a lot cheaper than horseback riding), people’s opportunities are often very limited by socio-economic status. Equipment price or membership fees aren’t the only monetary pressure that potential athletes face. In high school, a lot of my classmates needed to have after school jobs, but still wanted to join a sports team. Practice flexibility limited their choices; track practice could be completed at alternative hours, although soccer practice couldn’t. The sports options these students had were limited because of their need for employment, while students of a higher socio-economic status did not have these limitations.
You are right that a lot of people are manipulated into playing one sport or another by external influences. This applies to all sorts of extracurricular activities. I for one joined Latin Club in high school almost entirely because my friends were in it. However, what this really reminds me of is the dilemma my cousin is in right now. She is 10 years old and wants to switch from playing the flute to playing the cello. However this switch is being obstructed/motivated by various other influences.
ReplyDeleteShe takes flute as a class at her school but finds it boring because she feels she has advanced more than many of her classmates. She really enjoyed the cello when she tried it but she cannot take cello lessons through her school. This makes it both more expensive and more time consuming to play the cello, because she would need to take private lessons. For these reasons and the fact that she is already taking private piano lessons, her parents would rather she stuck with the flute.
I am interested to see how this plays out. It is a shame that my cousin cannot play whatever instrument she wants, but these external influences are obviously unavoidable.