Sport

There are many things that are believed to be shared by individuals universally, like music, for example. One of these things is sports. Proof of that is how, today, sports are characterized by its openness for everyone and anyone who wants to try and explore it. It is a significant development, a shift towards a positive change. There are terms like white men cant jump the plebeian sport and black mens game. This is because, in the past and in some part of the history of a particular sport, it was once exclusive to a particular group of individuals, either by choice or because circumstances at the time dictated the creation of such a condition. Over time, different sports have become something that is being shared and exercised worldwide in global stage and is appreciated by more and more people and in lieu with the development of the concept of fair opportunities in every possible sphere or endeavor. There has been a growing consciousness regarding the practice of removing any prejudice or bias when it comes to making a particular sport accessible to everyone and making the sport as something that is not limited to a selected group of individuals only. This is the ideal essence and ethos of sports. Despite the differences in color of the skin of the individual and the differences when it comes to racial and ethnic origins, at the end of the day every one individual has the capacity and ability to be a good athlete in any particular sport. Because of that, the appreciation for equality in opportunity to explore, exercise and compete in any particular sport selected by the individual, racial and ethnic background of the person often cannot dictate what sport he or she can or cannot exercise and participate in. This paper will discuss and analyze the fact that there are various opportunities for each individual coming from a particular race and ethnicity in the field of sports. This paper will also tackle race or ethnicity has a say in todays sports regardless of the sport at hand because of race and ethnicity, in a particular way, influences the conditions inside sports.

It is important to consider important key points. First, the discussion on race and ethnicity and how it impacts sports is not simply about people being able to or being unable to exercise the sport. Logically, so long as they know how to play it and as long as social conditions present them with the ability to learn it, every one individual in the world can actually play the sport. The bigger picture here is centered on the analysis of the possible factors related to race and ethnicity besides prejudice and bias that can influence not the individuals ability to play the sport. Every one can play the sport if they are trained and if they try. The individuals actual ability is not just simply play but to compete in different levels, to be recognized by significant organizations, to be encouraged to pursue a particular sport.

Prejudice and bias in relation to ethnic and racial background has long been proven as capable of holding individuals from doing or participating in a specific social activity like sports. This paper should stress the equal importance of the fact that ethnic and racial background in itself creates conditions that discourages people from these particular groups from pursuing and excelling in particular sports. This is an equally important and serious issue. Some of these conditions can be changed to improve the individuals chance at being able to compete in the same level of competition as anybody else in the world in a particular sporting event regardless of ones ethnicity and race and the possible implications of such characteristics of the individual.

A. Classification of race and ethnicity
Today, there are many identified different races and ethnic groups scattered all over the world. All of them have their own origins in a particular part of the world the migration and immigration patterns as well as other conditions like war, hunger, political strife, human trafficking including slave trade, inter-racial marriage, trade and commerce and many other factors. These resulted to the dispersal of different racial groups and ethnic groups in many different parts of the world that it is often hard to find a particular racial group and ethnic group that is still found exclusively inside the place or geographic origin where they began and originated. For example, urban sports were strongly influenced by ethnicity (Holli, Jones, 1995, p. 13) largely because of the concentration of different ethnic groups inside urban locations were sports are in full swing.

Currently, some of the racial and ethnic groups include Americans and the different ethnic groups from the US like American Indians and mixed races found inside the US like American-Italians, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. There are also racial groups for the different countries found in the other continents like Europe, Asia and Africa and the many different ethnic groups and minority groups found inside these countries. Countries create racial groups, while inside these different countries there are more specific groups (ethnic groups) which are formed because of affiliation of its members to a particular ethnic group present even before the country was a country.
Extending equal right towards members of different racial and ethnic group has grown significantly popular over the last few years that many different countries around the world feature these particular socio-civic characteristics. Just as it affects politics and culture, it also affects sports. Because of that, sports is never characterized by bias and prejudice based on racial and ethnic backgrounds, with a few exceptions on particular events in history wherein there are strong political and cultural considerations for such acts of bias and prejudice in sports based on racial consideration and ethnic background. Inside these countries, there are traces of equal opportunities for members of ethnic or minority groups. For example, in Canada, studies found out that there was little discrimination there versus the Polish minority when it comes to sports (Collins, Kay, 2003, p. 132).

B. Sports participation among racial and ethnic minorities
Today, sports participation among racial and ethnic minorities is seldom characterized by restrictions and limitations based on racial or ethnic considerations. In our multicultural society, people of all races and ethnic backgrounds take part in sport at all levels (Beashel, Sibson, Taylor, 2001, p. 229). Bias in sports because of racial and ethnic backgrounds is something that many sports organizations are discouraging, like how the Olympics has always stressed the universality of the sports how sports ignites the sense of brotherhood among people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds how racial and ethnic boundaries are broken down through the spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie in sports and during sporting events and how sports does not look at the different varying superficial characteristics of the individual like skin color (attributing to the racial or ethnic background of an individual) and decides based on it who can and cant play (Beashel, Sibson, Taylor, 2001, p. 229).
Still, the issue of sports participation among racial and ethnic minorities is still characterized by the fact that there are many ethnic groups comprising the minority in the particular country that has lesser chance at a particular sport because other conditions contribute to creating this reality. For example, taekwondo is a popular sport in South Korea. While it is something that is not restricted to a limited set of ethnic groups, still, not every member of every ethnic group in South Korea can be considered as capable of enjoying, exercising and participating in taekwondo because of many possible reasons. First, poverty among particular ethnic groups may be a reason why sports is something that they involve themselves as a group. There is also the possible reason that the ethnic group is situated in a place where sports program or coaching for the particular sport did not manage to reach, or if the place where particular ethnic groups are located have poor sports programs that individuals do not find it interesting at all or they do not see enough reason why they would pursue such sports (Beashel, Sibson, Taylor, 2001, p. 229).

Based on this analysis, it can be considered that while there are no groups strongly advocating the limitation of who can and cannot play a particular sport based on their racial and ethnic origins, still, ethnicity possesses in itself characteristics that act as hindrance why particular ethnic groups are not able to enjoy particular types of sports. Among racial groups, this can be used as a paradigm to assess how race-related factors can be the one responsible for barring or discouraging individuals to participate in a particular sport. For example, it is difficult to imagine Eskimos excelling in mountain biking or surfing. The geographic condition that affects and surrounds the racial or ethnic group is a bigger factor that discourages the individual to pursue such sport in the first place.

C. Sports and promoting equality
Sports have been used to promote equality. The biggest sports stage in the world, the Olympics, has always advocated the idea of equality in sports. In many different sporting events around the world, one of the consistent themes is the promotion of the concept of equality in sports by the absence of discrimination or bias based on racial or ethnic background when it comes to who can play and who can join in the particular sporting event. Whats more important is that individuals are all given chances to excel in sports regardless of ones racial background. For example, tennis has crowned champions who came from different parts of the world, from the United States to Britain, to Spain and Russia. African Americans excel in this sports as much as Asians and Europeans do, whether it is played in the US, in Europe, in Australia or in Asia, highlighting and providing example on the concept of equality and sports and acting as one of the ways in which sports promotes equality particularly in consideration to racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The concept of fairness and equality across different racial and ethnic groups is visible in sports through the fact that some countries that are politically and economically less powerful than other countries nonetheless emerge victorious and dominant. For example, African countries are consistent winners in track and field events of the Olympics for several staging now. This reflects that even when other countries can overpower and subdue other countries politically and outside the realm of sports, this power is not exercised in sports. Individuals and countries are allowed to compete in equal and fair grounds versus each other. If politically, these countries are weak, in sports they have the chance to finally excel and put their countries in the map. This sometimes also has positive political repercussions. These countries are placed in the spotlight because of their victory in the field of sports. This moment in the spotlight allows the world to also see the problems in this particular country to which they can help. It makes sports not only an avenue for fair play and equal opportunities but also as a platform for development and positive change that can help people from other racial and ethnic background.

D.  Minorities as sports leaders
The concept of fairness and equality in sports also takes shape in the aspect of giving even the ethnic and minority groups inside a particular country a chance to become sports leaders and leading athletes in any of the many different sporting events in the world. The perfect example of minorities as sports leaders is the case of African Americans in the United States and the immense role of African Americans when it comes to sports. African Americans are still considered as a minority in the United States. Despite this social status of this particular minority and ethnic group, individuals of African American descent have becoming sports leaders in many different fields.

Many African Americans have become successful and leading athletes in the United States, excelling in some of the major sporting events in the United States, including baseball, football and basketball. The campaign for racial equality in sport continued in football, and on a smaller scale in other sports (Houlihan, 2003, p. 131).  Dikembe Mutombo is an African American who became prominent in the countrys leading professional basketball league, the National Basketball Association. In the countrys national sport which is baseball, many minorities, ethnic groups and racial groups are represented through the rosters of the teams, some becoming significant figures in the tournament and in the sport, including those with American-Asian, American-African and American-European descent (Houlihan, 2003, p. 131).

E. The opportunities individuals coming from a particular race and ethnicity presently has in sports
There are factors in ethnic and racial origins that present to them opportunities in sports. For example, individuals coming from a particular ethnicity or race that are naturally tall have the opportunity to be able to compete in sports where height is a significant factor. Individuals who are inherently short in stature based on the dominant trait in their race or ethnic background have lesser opportunities for sports wherein height is the key consideration. Selection of athlete, measuring the degree of capability to excel and win and other considerations favor the taller one from the shorter one, thus, lessening or limiting the opportunities for the people with naturally short frame compared to the opportunities presented to those who are naturally tall. This is the same case for other physical differences. For example, people from the South East Asia are often of average built and are often not as heavy as American, African or European individuals. Because of that, South East Asian athletes very seldom figure in competing in the heavyweight division or category of any contact sports like boxing and wrestling, the key factor is how people from particular racial or ethnic group is genetically built.

But in the discussion regarding the opportunities in sports presented to an individual in consideration to his or her ethnic or racial background, it is still important to mention that the opportunities are not similar with one another. But first, it is important to stress the fact that this does not mean there is a sense of inequality and unfairness in sports. These conditions are not created so that a country or a group of people can have an unfair advantage over the other. This is simply because of the fact that the complex system and requirements involved in sports development is also hinged in other characteristics of the society which, by nature are not uniformly similar with one another, hence, the difference in opportunities for individuals based on ethnic and racial backgrounds and connected factors.

The differences in the opportunities extended to the individual based on racial and ethnic backgrounds is influenced, first and foremost, by the financial capabilities of a particular country inside which the individual belongs to. There is a reason why there are dominant countries in the Olympics. These countries rake in huge amounts of gold medals during the staging of this quadrennial event. This is because any or all of the following reasons first, the country has enough money, facilities and other necessary things that can allow them to train their athletes in optimum, ideal conditions second, the country has enough money to support as many athletes possible financially to compete in many competitions in the national and international level which impacts their skill significantly third, this country possess aspects like research and development or technological advantage or both that other countries that do not have. This is not to say that this advantages guarantee victory.  It the end of the day, it is still not a guarantee of a victory although this enhances the chances of the athlete to become successful and encourages more and more athletes to participate in the sport, allowing the country a bigger pool of talent to which it can choose from.

F. How race andor ethnicity projects influence in todays sports regardless of the sport at hand
Ideally, there is no particular race that is prohibited from practicing a particular sport. There are factors that can limit the exercise of this particular race of a particular sport because of particular reasons. For example, armed conflict and political strife involving ethnic groups and minorities and particular racial groups can result in the non-participation of a particular racial group in an international competition based on these grounds and hinged on many particular considerations revolving around the central area of the conflict affecting the sports and its conditions.

a. Religious  Religion influences sports and how individuals participate in sporting events. For example, Muslim women find it hard to break into competitive international tennis because of the restrictions on clothing (since tennis is very difficult to play if the individual is as covered as how Muslim religion dictates it). In more conservative religions wherein the patriarchal system renders the women as second class citizens who are delegated to particular roles like housekeeping, the chances of being a dedicated athlete in a particular sport is severely affected because of such restrictions (Suad, Afsaneh, 2003, p. 444).  Iranian women, as well as young female students, are obliged to wear coats, headscarves, and trousers in their sporting activities. This requirement serves to alienate women from sports (Suad, Afsaneh, 2003, p. 444).

b. Cultural  For example, there might be sports that are limited to particular group of people because culture and tradition dictates it. Some sports are exclusive only for individuals who have royal blood or are relatives of the royal bloodline, limiting the ethnic group that can enjoy the sport. This is because the ethnic groups to which the royal family is connected in consanguinity maybe limited to just one or few ethnic groups to which the bloodline came from. Also, while race is not a factor to consider when it comes to the individuals ability to exercise a particular sport, there is what is considered as suitable sports for a particular race dictated by the place they live, their physical characteristics, capabilities and limitations and other factors.

Everyone should have the privilege of enjoying, exercising and participating in a particular sport. Today, there is what is known as sports equity which is concerned with aspects like fairness in sport and other related aspects (Honeybourne, 2005, p. 10). Racial and ethnic backgrounds and ones race and ethnicity should never be a factor when it comes to sports preferences, although admittedly, this is ideal but easily said and done. There are still more powerful cultural, economic and political forces that dictate the conditions of individuals inside the society which in turn affects their attitude, behavior and outlook towards sports. Nonetheless, there is a positive side to the latest developments worldwide. This includes the rise to sports popularity of individuals coming from different ethnic and racial background, excelling in many different sports. This is an indication that regardless of the problems sports have been facing, when it comes to restrictions based on ethnicity and race, there are positive changes that push sports development towards positive evolution.