Sports: A Predominant Aspect Of A Person's Life

It started with hunting- survival, carried on in warfare- protection and now is entertainment to watch 22 humans run after a Dalmatian like a ball. Sports may be healthcare and fitness to one, passion for life to another, and an entertaining spectacle to someone else. All in all, in today’s world, it includes activities that are competitive and physical nature mostly governed and structured.

Sports have evolved just like us. Artifacts have suggested the emergence of sports in China in 2000 BC. Back in the days, well, 4.5 million years, people ran, and it probably started as running from huge bears but it became the world’s first sport when a foot race became the first event of the very first Olympics in 776 BCE. Greeks were the first ones to recognize sports for what it is and celebrated it and their legacy is carried on every 4 years by the Olympic Games. Talking about games, Tsu Chu or Cuju, a ball game from ancient China where you kicked a ball through an opening in a net, later recognized as the earliest form of football (soccer).

Being a sportsperson comes with its perks and drawbacks like all other walks in life. Yes, you travel the world, fame follows with big bucks, living a longer life. But, you sweat for most of your day, exert physically, sacrifice relationships and make your life all about a game, an activity. Athletes, when retiring (usually early in life) are left with a thought, “if you aren’t an athlete anymore then who are you?”. Not everyone can spend 8-10 hours a day and 6 days a week training and exerting physically, being on a strict diet, and without alcohol. But hardship is rewarding, $106 million if you’re Roger Federer.

Sports is not like any other occupation. It is involved in everyone’s lives since childhood. No human has grown up without playing a game but there are plenty who have without solving a murder case. It is essential because it inculcates discipline in oneself like nothing else, it teaches team building, strategic things, endurance, and a sense of control over one’s id. Thus, it is being increasingly incorporated in corporate culture, young individuals, mentally or emotionally suffering individuals, and addicts.

We have come a long way in this area, changing what it means to mankind every step of the path, from women-only cheerleading to them in equal participation in all kinds of sports and an ongoing conversation about transgenders running for the Olympics and to the disabled having a seat at the table and it’ll always evolve like it always has. Maybe, in the future, there might be spaceships landing aliens for an official inter-planet match of badminton. Well, let’s not hope for that.

By: Simran Raghav

Content: https://www.campuscareerclub.com/why-sports-is-important-in-our-life/