Sports are given a lot of public attention and sports persons’ are highly paid for their activities. What sacrifice do the sports persons have to make?
Sports are a part of our daily life and it also provides good entertainment. Sports are greatly encouraged by schools and educational institutions and also by the government.
Each nation has its own national game. The people of different countries have different preferences. For instance in India hockey is its national game but it is also true that cricket is more popular among the Indian public. In fact cricket is very popular in countries like South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, and West Indies. In USA it is rugby and soccer.
The sports persons bring glory to their nation when they get victory. The corporate houses as well as individuals give a lot of gifts to the winners of the match to boost their morale or to award their efforts. Many matches carry attractive prizes and the players become rich overnight.
Media too glamourizes sports. Advertisements, magazines, newspapers give too much publicity to sportspersons. They are portrayed as heroes or film stars. They are given offers to act in advertising films or even commercial films. They are invited to inaugurate functions.
Because they are treated as superstars the public’s expectation is too high and thus they often play under great pressure. In the event of defeat they have to face the public’s anger, which can sometimes endanger their life. They are expected to perform well all the time. They have to put in hours of hard work.
The other sportspersons don’t receive much publicity. They don’t receive the limelight. This is unjust. All sports should get equal importance.
Sometimes children try to copy them blindly though they may possess no real talents and neglect their studies. Parents put pressure on their children into sports hoping they will become famous one day.
Often a career in sports is short lived. They cannot pursue a separate career seriously. The sports persons often have to sacrifice their education or professional career. Sometimes an injury or an accident can change their career graph and they have to retire quite young. They are unable to live in anonymity.
I think that sports persons are portrayed larger than life. Sports should be given importance for its benefits like exercise and physical health. Sports should be taken in a more healthy sense. When undue importance is given to sports it invites problems like interference of politics or match fixing as it happened in cricket involving many cricketers of some countries.
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