Women, Sport, and Film Course

1) What are the boundaries or issues that prevent us from having an in depth discussion about race/class in sport or other fields where the field represents different values, stigmas, or is otherwise overshadowed by an historic culture of limited access.

2) How does a person's social origins (race/ethnicity, class, gender etc.) affect their orientation towards sport?

But I think that there *are* sterotypes of which people (in terms of race, gender, class etc) are better in particular sports. Is it true that white men can't jump? Is polo only played by rich people with British accents? Do all Spanish people play soccer--or is it football?

In terms of class, I think that a lot of it has to do with what is available. I know that I think golf has a certain country club feel to it--the only courses where I live are secured by big gates. I've never been to a country club. So I guess golf has a "for the rich, white class" tag on it in my minds eye.

I'd be more inclined to run or play something that doesn't involve renting equipment or joining a club. My family isn't very wealthy so we always had to make do. We could play some semblance of baseball or football in the back yard, shoot hoops in our neighbors driveway, or run...and even then we'd be playing with raggedy balls and old left handed mits. But things that required buying or renting something expensive were always out of the picture: horseback riding, golfing etc...

2) Sort of in conjunction with my first answer, I feel as though someone coming out of a lower income neighborhood or from a minority family may be pushed into only a few select sports. If they do not excel at those things, they may be forced not to play, rather than try something different. Also, I feel that, using the NBA as a good example, many young minorities are given the opportunity to go professional at a very early age. They, a lot of the time, have no other option, since the money they will be bringing in will help not only themselves, but their family as well. The public will then complain about the immaturity of the athletes and such, but, in actuality, the players are just boys. I feel that we have defined many athletes in terms of their social origins. African Americans are "good at basketball", Spanish people are good at soccer, the Poles are good at hockey...I feel that race/ethnicity, class, and gender are the BIGGEST factors playing into what sport an athlete chooses and, commonly, how successful they become.

2. Social origins play a really important role in a person's orientation towards sport. Although, I don't think that it necessarily has to be limited to "orientation." In many cases, social origins (class in particular) affect your access to a sport. Schools with little funding and resources are less likely to offer 4 different sports each semester. For example, basketball at the bare minimum only requires two hoops and a ball, whereas hockey requires sticks, pucks, goals, and protective equipment. That is to say, I think it's important to keep in mind that people may be more oriented to a sport simply because they have access to it.

2) Question #2 is a tough one – I think the easiest answer is to say that social origins have a big effect on sports orientation, but I’m not sure if that’s always true. Someone mentioned that in sports like hockey, only the wealthy kids can play because they’re the only ones who can afford the equipment. But if you look in the NHL today, the VAST majority of players are guys who grew up on little farms in Canada or in poor industrial cities in Russia. A lot of players learned to play on homemade rinks in the backyards of their houses. They’re guys who just loved the game, and that’s how they made it to the big league. This also takes into consideration the subject of nationality/ethnicity because countries like this have very strong histories in that particular sport. It’s safe to say that if you had the same situation over in Israel with a kid who loved hockey, he probably would not go this far.

2. I know that class plays a big role in sports. An good example would be skiing. I know from skiing so many years that it costs a lot of money to buy skis, poles, helmets, jackets, etc. To be a good racer means that you must not only have skill but also have top of the line ski equipment, such as newer skis with the latest technology and developments that allow the skier to get to the bottom of the hill with the fastest time. Many ski racers are from rich families who can afford to buy ski equipment. My brother uses other resources such as sponserships and schlarships for the funding of his ski racing. I also think where you live also would have an impact on some sports. If we think about basketball and soccer as well as some other sports, they can be played almost anywhere. But for skiing you must live in cold places. Because I am from Vermont, there are many skiers because there is snow avaiable. But I would not expect many people from Florida to ski becuase there is no snow there. Where we are from does have an impact on our orientation towards sports.

I strongly believe that in an ideal world, athletics could act as an arena where class and racial boundaries could be broken down. Young athletes compete side by side on the same teams and have to learn to work with and trust one another regardless of race or class. Unfortunately, however, stereotypes and other forms of racism and classism exist on the playing field as they do elsewhere in society.

Certain athletes have access to certain sports while other potential athletes do not. In sports such as crew, riding, and skiing, there is a lot of money involved. The equipment and the travel can be very expensive and will often result in a significant selection bias as to who can participate. I think that access is one of the biggest issues with these sports.

During my summers in college, I was involved in a program called Rowing Strong, Rowing Together that was designed to teach teen mothers from Holyoke to row. This group was almost exclusively Puerto Rican. It was an incredible experience to be able to help these women gain access to a sport that had been predominantly monopolized by elite colleges and universities. Through this experience and several others, it has become increasingly clear to me the importance of creating these types of programs for all sports that target populations and communities who may otherwise not have access to these athletic opportunities.

Very disturbingly, I can count on one hand the number of elite national team rowers of color. I think that with little representation at the elite level, it is often hard to recruit young rowers of color to a sport where there are little to no role models who look like them. I think that so much of athletics has to do with goal setting and mirroring of those athletes above us. So many of us aspire to be as good as the national team athletes and I think that it can be very difficult to be a athlete of color in a sport where there is no one who looks like you to look up to.

A person's social origins affect the orientation towards sports in a number of ways. Gender will affect which sport one chooses to play. If it didn't, then there wouldn't already be typically "feminine" or "masculine" sports. A person's race may have some bearing on their choice, but not that much. Class, however, does have a great deal of influence on what sport someone plays.

Social class is often the determining factor between one sport or another. It opens doors, and slams them shut on opportunities. Class means money, and if you don't have enough to play a certain sport, then you aren't participating in it. It determines money, availability, and time, all things that you need to play, no matter what sport it is.