UNIT 3:Sport and Leisure
Key unit competence: To be able to argue how sports, leisure and
competition contribute to personal, collective identity shared with othersand social development
3.1 Difference between sport and leisure
Activity 1
In groups answer the following
question.
What are the benefits ofparticipating in sports, leisure
and competitions?
At school, you have realised that in between the lessons there is break, lunch
and games. Think of watching TV at home, visiting friends, playing board
games or any other game in your home environment, tennis, football, and
how you feel, after watching your favourite game or movie. It feels very
good to come home after a long day and watch your favorite show on the
television. However, it will not give the same feeling and benefit if you were
engaged in sporting activities.
The difference between leisure and sports is that leisure refers to free time
spent away from business, work, domestic chores and education. It excludes
time spent on necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. That means
to be free from compulsory work and engage in leisure activities such as
entertaining friends, going on vacation, doing hobbies such as reading,watching television, listening or dancing to music, among others.
Sport, on the other hand, involves all forms of competitive physical activities
which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain
or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to
participants. In sports there are indoor activities such as gymnastics, dance
sports, cricket and outdoor activities such as swimming, football, basketball,hockey, golf, canoeing and sailing.
3.2 Contribution of leisure, sport and competition to personal
and collective identity
Case study 1
Teta has a low self-esteem so she avoids eye contact and speaks in a
hushed tone. However, she always says ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ which is
a learned behaviour.
1. In groups, discuss how you think Teta really feels.
2. Imagine you are a teacher. In what ways would you help Teta develop selfesteem?
How would you make her feel part of the class environment?
3. Suggest an activity that Teta would focus on to improve her self-esteemand practise direct eye contact.
It is important for people to be included in corporate activities if they are to
feel that they are part of the group. This is especially true in the school setting.
Role playing is one of the most helpful activities for improving social skills, as
it allows one to feel confident in handling different types of situations. Role
playing can be done through drama where an individual is given a role that
is different from his/ her personality.
For example, Teta whose self-esteem is
low can be given the role of someone in authority. This way she can practise
how to be self-confident. Drama, music and other performances are some
of the leisure activities that are carried out in schools. They are encouraged
through competitions among schools; that is inter-school competitions.These help in reducing the barrier to positive social interactions.
Sport and leisure are also effective in achieving the inclusion and building ofa collective identity.
Activity 2
1. What is happening in the picture?
2. What do country representatives in a
race usually have to identify them?
3. Whenever an athlete wins a race, the
country is said to have won. Explainthis in relation to collective identity.
During Olympics, athletes represent their respective countries. The symbol of
the national flag helps in identifying the various countries represented. From
your discussion of the above identities, you realize that sports contribute to
identity both at the personal and collective level. Some sports have actually
been related to certain social groups due to their remarkable performance
in them. Other national and cultural groups have gained recognition and
prestige from various leisure and sports activities that they are known for and
which are mostly used as a tourism attraction in their countries. An example
is the Brazilian Samba dance, band groups such as the Ingeli band of Rwanda
which carries the prestige of winning the African Kora awards among others.
Sport and leisure also bring a sense of national unity. When sporting activities
are supported by the government and citizens own them, they contribute to
national identity as people identify with these activities and enjoy participating
in them either as players or as fans. The president of Rwanda for example
has highly supported sports through giving prizes for events such as The
Kigali International Marathon.
Another example is the World Cup. It brings citizens together in celebrating
players of soccer at a global level. Socially, sports and leisure have contributed
greatly in cultivating inclusion in community building, character building andsocial cohesion.
Case study 2
Victory for Team Rwanda
It was a moment of glory for all of us in Rwanda. We had all gathered in
hotels and restaurants to watch the riders from Rwanda participate in the
Tour de Rio. They were all riding with passion. It was the stretch between
Valenca and Teresopolis, a total distance of 153km that left all Rwandans
at the edge of their seats.
Team Rwanda rider Camera Hakuzimana broke away from the leading
park. For 100km he remained in the lead, at some time reaching the
highest point of a four and a half minute lead. It looked likely that he
would win this race. We chanted and cheered. We clapped in anticipation.
I had never felt such excitement due to watching a sporting event, least
of all, cycling. The cheers brought even more people to the restaurants.
Rwanda was going to win! It was our time of glory. One of us was making
us proud.
Though he did not finally win, he was among the top finishers. He
crossed the finish line only 54 seconds after the winner, Kleber Ramos
Silva of Brasilinvest. Other Rwandans in the race did well too. Jean Bosco
Nsengimana and Patrick Byukusenge finished in 14th and 16th positions
respectively, to register a remarkable performance for the national side
that was the only African team in the competition. Teenage debutant
Joseph Aleluya was in 22nd position. Team captain Janvier Hadi and
national road race champion Joseph Biziyaremye who had suffered a
mechanical problem settled for 44th and 58th positions in that order.
Team Rwanda did the whole country proud. We were all so patriotic
in cheering for them. They brought us together. There were no tribal
considerations in cheering them on. No grudge could be remembered
during this moment. They were Rwandans. We had to cheer them on.
Though the success was theirs, the glory was shared among all Rwandans.It promoted a collective identity.
Questions
1. How do you think the riders felt during the competition?
2. In what ways do you think Hakuzimana’s identity changed after this
competition?
3. Describe how the performance of Team Rwanda in the riding
competition contributed to a feeling of collective identity among the
people of Rwanda.
4. Share with your group other occasions when sport or leisure haspromoted collective identity either at a community or national level.
3.3 Contribution of sports, leisure and competition to
personal and social development
Activity 3
1. Consider the various sports you know of. Do they have rules which the
players must adhere to? Name some of them.
2. What values do these rules develop in social life and how do they
contribute to social cohesion? Apart from the rules, how else do thegames enhance social development?
From the discussions, you find out the following:
• Moral behaviour and inculcation of values such as honesty, fairness and
determination are enhanced through social interaction that occurs in the
regulated physical activities conducted in sports.
• They also engage young people in their communities through volunteering
hence reinforcing values of social development.
• Sport and leisure offer equal opportunities to all regardless of gender,
ethnicity or ability. This reinforces the values of equality and inclusiveness.
• It also helps young people become more reasonable and critical ascompetitions involve playing tactfully with the aim of winning.
Exercise 1
Read the case study below and answer the questions that follow in
groups.
Sonelle had always been a shy girl. She had always feared expressing her
opinion. She believed it did not matter. After all, others seemed to have
the solution to every problem. What would they think if she opened her
mouth to say things she was not even sure of ?
One day, she was invited by her friends to play the game of Scrabble. Her
friends seemed to know the game very well. They were making words soeasily. Indeed, this is what they used to do whenever they were free.
Theywere used to it. They knew all the rules and the tricks of the game.
This day, they decided to play in groups of three. Since Sonelle was so
timid that she shook whenever she tried to create a word on the board,
her group suggested that she become the group leader. She would be
telling them what word to make.
Hesitantly, Sonelle suggested the first word and it was correct! Then came
the second word, the third one and so forth. Her group was winning. At
some point a disagreement arose between the two groups. Encouraged
by her success in suggesting words for her team, Sonelle decided to
arbitrate between the two groups. Soon, they were back to the game and
everybody was happy.
From that day, everyone wanted Sonelle in her team. They wanted her
to be the leader too. This extended to school and within no time, Sonelle
was appointed a prefect. Today, Sonelle is a Chief Executive Officer of
a multinational company. She discovered her leadership skills in the
Scrabble game and she never looked back. She became assertive but
considerate because of guiding her friends during the game. Who knew agame of Scrabble can bring such a transformation?
Questions
1. What leisure activity was Sonnelle and her friends involved in?
2. Explain how the competition in this leisure activity helped Sonelle to
discover her abilities.
3. In what ways did Sonelle’s friends help her to develop her abilities?
4. Draw a chart showing Sonelle’s personal development from the day she
was invited for a game of Scrabble to where she is today.
5. In what ways can we use leisure and competition to develop ourselvesand others around us?
3.4 Unit summary
Sport - free time spent away from business, work, domestic chores and
education.
Leisure - all forms of competitive physical activities which, through casual
or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical abilityand skills while providing entertainment to participants.
Contribution of leisure and sport to personal and collective
identity
1. Leisure activities such as drama allow one to feel confident in handling
different situations.
2. Sport and leisure activities promote positive social interactions thus
social cohesion.
3. Team sports and leisure activities enhance social inclusion thus building
collective identity.
4. Sports can lead to individual, collective and national recognition hence
individual and collective prestige.
5. Sport and leisure contribute greatly in character building hence personagrowth.
Contribution of sports, leisure and competition to personal
and social development
1. Regulated sport and leisure activities inculcate values such as honesty,
fairness and integrity leading to personal development.
2. They also engage young people in their communities through
volunteering hence promote social development.
3. Sport and leisure offer equal opportunities to all regardless of gender,
ethnicity or ability hence reinforcing gender equality and inclusiveness.4. They help young people to become more reasonable and critical.
3.5 Test your competence
Write an essay on the role of sport and leisure to:
1. Personal development.
2. Collective identity.3. Social development.