Sports Have Deeper Significance Than Mere Entertainment | UPSC Mains Essay Preparation PDF Download

Sports Have DeeperSignificance ThanMere Entertainment

structure

(1) Opening    —    Importance of sports in entertainment

(2) Body    —    Additional Importance

    —    Important for health.

    —    Teach sportsmanship-team work, leadership, positive attitude, courage, honesty, discipline, honour, indomitable spirit, respect for opposition.

    —    Can be used to train youth.

    —    If same applied in other fields, wonders could be done.

    —    Sports to better relations and show real strength than in war.

(3) Closing    —    We lack sportsmanship in our society. Nations development & sportsmen’s level.

Right from the time man evolved his civilization, he has used a variety of means for entertainment. Sports were evolved for the same purpose. In fact, it will not be an overstatement if we assert that sports today are most popular and viable means of entertainment. No other form of entertainment is more wholesome and has a wider mass appeal than sports. While the primary purpose of sports remains entertainment, today they have come to have much deeper significance. They have developed a great educative value and can be used to bring a number of improvements in the society.

First and foremost, sports can be used to produce healthier and happier citizens. “Healthy mind resides in a healthy body.” Sports can be used to produce such men who would be physically fit and therefore, mentally alert, sharp and more efficient in their work. At the same time, sports can be used to fruitfully use the bubbling energy of the youth. This will prevent them from misdirecting their energy and enthusiasm.

The basic requirement to be a sportsman is to have sportsmanship. A number of qualities can be included in sportsmanship. Most of these qualities are also essential to be a good human being. So, sports which inculcate sportsmanship can also produce better members of the society. We can include team work, discipline, leadership qualities, positive attitude, courage, honesty, indomitable spirit, respect for opposition in sportsmanship. We shall survey these qualities briefly and discuss their role in the society.

Ours is a society with diversities and in fact there is hardly any society that is homogeneous. For smooth functioning, it is important that each part of the society plays its role efficiently and harmoniously with others. Thus, in essence, is the team work. Every person in a team is assigned a certain role. He has to play that role in conjunction with others’ roles. Only when everyone plays together like a well oiled machine, can the team play well. Similarly, only when everyone in society works not for his selfish ends but for the society, the society can progress.

Discipline is another hallmark of a sportsman. Similarly, discipline is an utmost necessity for or 

derliness and peace in the society. In the field, everyone plays his role according to a set of rules. In the society, such people who respect rules are required and sportsmen fit the bill. In fact, any person playing sports can develop this quality. Leadership is another requirement for a sportsman. Such qualities develop in him automatically as he plays by applying his mind. Such people who can think are the flag bearers of democracy. Democracy cannot flourish in the society where people are led but where they lead. Such leadership qualities as showing way, leading by example, concern for fellowmen are well cultivated in the sports field.

A good sportsman is characterised by his courage, positive attitude and indomitable spirit. He doesn’t lose heart when he is losing a game but tries his best to win till the very end. Adverse circumstances do not rattle him. In fact he shines most when challenge is the greatest. Such people are invaluable to the society especially at the time of crisis. Pessimists do not bring revolution, they cannot even sustain evolution. Sportsmen can never be a pessimist. So they can be expected to keep spirits high even in the face of adversity.

Respect for the opposition is profound in the heart of the sportsman. He doesn’t go into the field to fight but to play well, play to win. But he has due respect for other person’s strengths and good qualities. He doesn’t want to win by hook or by crook but only strictly in accordance with the rules of the game. He remains honest till the very end whether he loses or wins. Cheating, pressurizing umpires, physically harming the opponents, using foul language are not his jobs. He plays like a gentleman. A lot can be learnt from such sportsmen. In today’s society relations are marred by cheating, brow beating and one upmanship. Everyone tries to dominate others. People show scant regard to other person’s needs, his feelings. Intolerance and hatred rule the most. Under such conditions, do we not require men who still have the heart to give others their due share.

To conclude, we can say that sports field is just an extension of our society. The same code of morals and ethics that govern our society, govern the sports arena too. To be a good sportsman, it requires to be a good human being first. In fact, sports field can be developed into a training ground to produce better citizens of the society. How welcome would be the day when the rivalry between two nations wouldn’t drag them to war but they would match their muscles and minds in the sports arena. The quality of the sportsmen gives the real idea about the strength of a nation and its inhabitants, not the quality of its weaponry. Can we miss the one to one correspondence between the stage of development of a nation and the quality of its sportsmen as exemplified by USA, Germany and former USSR. So sports are not just another means of entertainment but much more than that.