Humans have been playing sports since ancient days. Olympic Games, gladiator battles, sword fights, and chariot races used to be popular pastimes. We have games like soccer, cricket, rugby, baseball, tennis, and many more exciting additions. Sports have a huge fan base that dedicatedly watches these games. A few forms of sports organize periodic global or continental tournaments in which many countries participate. Some sportsmen even make careers out of soccer, cricket, squash, tennis, or other games.
Basketball player Michael Jordan and Golf champion Tiger Woods are among the world’s highest-paid athletes. Talent in sports doesn’t just bring you fame and wealth. It also makes you feel a sense of accomplishment and triumph. You overcome your weaknesses to become the best of the contestants. Muhammad Ali didn’t just become a professional boxer. He set his goal to be the greatest, undefeated champion of the boxing ring. Athletes must master the sports they love and be invincible against their competitors. “Conceive success with your mind, believe it in your heart, and achieve it with diligence.”
A CAREER IN SPORTS MANAGEMENT
The word sports comes from French desport, which means leisure. So, sports include activities involving amusement and entertainment. But that’s the spectator’s perspective of sports. For athletes, the game deserves their complete attention and devotion. That’s why sports management has become an entire science in the 21st century. It’s like managing a business, but the company is a sports team. You organize, budget, evaluate, and sometimes lead your sports organization.
Americans are crazy about sports and revere their favorite team with intense loyalty. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the sports industry makes decent money. The North American sports market has a value of $75 billion. This amount will become $83 billion by 2023. It shows there’s great potential in the study and profession of sports management. As per BLS, agents and managers of artists and athletes can make more than a hundred thousand dollars every year. Now you can get an online bachelor’s degree in sports management from a reputable institute. As a fresh sports manager, you can be a marketing analyst, an event coordinator, or a sales manager. As COVID-19 loses its stronghold, the sports market will start showering entertainment again.
SEVEN SKILL STEPS
What is a sports skill? The ability to perform in different, challenging, and competitive situations is a sports skill. Skills are a fundamental part of any sport. Contrary to popular belief, mere practice doesn’t make an athlete perfect in games. This practice doesn’t include the pressure of being watched by thousands of people in a stadium. It doesn’t deal with the fear of defeat or the public shaming by disgruntled fans. You can – doubtlessly – learn a skill with immense practice. Sports need you to learn how to perform in an unfriendly and hostile environment, such as a competition.
Wayne Goldsmith is an international sports instructor and coaching expert. He has devised a stratagem called the performance practice. He thinks that an athlete can tap his hidden potential by following these simple skill steps. Here is a complete description of these stages. Although the image shows these steps in a descending matter, we’ll try to follow an ascending pattern.
- Step #1: Performance. Coach just gives athletes a drill to imitate, and that’s the most training athletes get.
- Step #2: Good performance. The coach makes sportspeople practice the skill regularly. He also receives feedback on their diligent progress.
- Step #3: Speedy excellent performance. Nobody likes a dull game. Athletes can have excellent performance. But, if this performance isn’t fast enough, there can be no mastering in sports.
- Step #4: Speedy excellent performance when you’re tired. The game isn’t like your practice match that will end at your disposal. Athletes have to give their best till the very end of the game. The last few laps are what decide the outcome of the contest. You have to beat fatigue if you want to defeat your opponent.
- Step #5: Speedy excellent performance under pressure when you’re tired. Exhaustion becomes a worse nuisance when combined with stress. You have to continually cope with the fear of public backlash and general disapproval. The coach teaches you how not to get intimidated by pressure.
- Step #6: Keep giving a speedy excellent performance under pressure when you’re tired. You don’t participate in just a single game every year. A sportsman has to relive a similar situation from time to time—the coach trains an athlete to transform him into a hardened player.
- Step #7: Keep giving a speedy excellent performance under pressure when you’re tired in a competition. That’s when an athlete turns into the champion. In the previous stages, either the athlete works alone or the coach assists them. But this stage is purely athlete-driven. The sportsman has to motivate himself to be the best in the field. This stage examines an athlete’s problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS RIVALRIES
Have you ever seen a meme that compares Ronaldo with Messi? Soccer crazies can’t seem to decide which one of them is the GOAT. That’s how we get pro athlete rivalries, which are beneficial for the future of sports. They keep people invested in the sports industry. They’re suitable for a constant media appearance. When two nemeses meet on the battlefield, flocks of people gather to watch the show. Competition between two professional athletes is financially profitable for the sports industry.
An athlete’s rival does to him what Prof. Moriarity did to Sherlock Holmes. This contestation leads both pro athletes to train even harder, test their limits, and surpass their previous forms. A human being is inclined to be more productive when he/she encounters a better person naturally. Healthy competitions provoke toughness, resolve, and willpower. Rivals usually share the same attributes, so both of them want to become the superior adversary. That’s how pro-athlete rivalries promote diligence and fortitude among sportspeople.
Conclusion
These essential factors make a better athlete. Leadership is necessary, both when you have to lead a team and when a coach leads you. A sportsman needs to be skilled at time management and organizational capabilities. Meditation and self-control are tools to build an athletic mindset. An athlete is always focused, self-aware, and self-disciplined. Like a trained yogi or a qualified soldier, he knows how to control himself and the team. He’s committed to the cause of being a world champion. He is a team player and can motivate his brothers to overcome any obstacle. People use the term sportsman spirit to signify a man with an iron constitution who respects talent. Being a sportsman is the path to glory. Athletes of today are the inspiration of the future generation of champs.
