Social class plays a vital role in sports. It dictates who can participate in what sports and to what level of participation. The limiting factor associated with social class is money. Money is the means which to obtain the equipment and facilities necessary to partake in the sport, without money, one cannot perform organized sports. Furthermore, this issue is only limiting the already restricted minorities. However, some have risen up to be some of the best athletes in the world, leaving one to wonder, is social class affecting sports participation that greatly?
The people who are being affected the most are minorities, because they lack sufficient funds for participation. This and not genetics could be the reason why black minorities are less commonly seen in expensive sports such as hockey, and are more commonly seen in easily accessible sports such as basketball, where there is a basketball court at the majority of local playgrounds. This is a good reason as to perhaps why the NBA is mostly composed of black people and the NHL is mostly white dominated. Perhaps it has nothing to do with genetics, but what sports you have access to growing up.
Social class and media are connected in that the media represents how it wishes to present the certain classes. In movies, the extremely wealthy people play Polo, the middle class people play organized sports such as football or baseball, and the lower class people play unorganized sports at the local playground or park. These representations give people the idea that is how their social class should act and which sports they should participate in. If they feel they “belong” in one type of sport, they may not desire to move to a different sport where they may be able to excel further in.
Moving to a higher level of game play such as college of even high school can be impossible depending on your social class. Some high school athletes may have to give up their passion for sports in order to obtain a job and earn money for their family so they can help put food on the table or buy clothes. Many college students either have to give up sports because they have to get a job to pay for their tuition or do not have the resources available to even make it to college, thus ending their careers.
When looking back at it, social class and its ability to limit participation are highly positively correlated. If one does not have the means necessary to participate in the sport they desire due to the limiting affects of social class, then their sports career is simply over. Ways in which this can be avoided is by charities for minorities. By raising money through other sporting events where a percentage of the money raised is donated to minorities participation in sports, it can help level out the playing field and help lower the walls dividing the social classes. However, some minorities have made it over that wall and moved on to college and professional careers showing that money is not everything and with enough talent and motivation athletes can get to the top no matter the circumstances.
