Introduction and Lenses

Welcome to the online collection of materials for Contemporary Issues in Sports. The idea behind designing an online open resource for this class was a desire to stay current in several different areas that apply to the social science areas behind the study of sport and recreation management. It is our sincere hope that this resource will help expose you to the definitions and theory that will lead to better understanding current and future issues that challenge our industry of sport. Our industry is asked to be both a mirror and model to our society, while being run as a self-sufficient business and a conduit to the community for other businesses. The values expressed in and through our sports tell us where we are and gives a potential road map to where sport and recreation can lead our society.

Sometimes sport and recreation are so ingrained in our everyday life that we miss its impacts and take its structures for granted. How do we proceed to change our relationship to sport and recreation when it is so integral to our daily lives? Social media presenter Jay Shetty interviewed Kobe Bryant in September 2020. They discussed what one needs to do to improve and get perspective on things in their daily lives. Watch the five minutes (from 9:14 – 13:28) where they discuss “Getting Over Yourself”, “Developing Your Superpower”, and the “Consistency of Work”.

In the United States, we ask a lot of sport and recreation: as a personal refuge, a fitness element, a community builder, a conservation interest, an educational tool, a leadership development opportunity, a marketing vehicle, entertainment resource or a source of local, regional or national pride. We expect sport and recreation to simultaneously create and maintain social norms. We look to sport to be an example of meritocracy and then root, play and enjoy based on tradition, regionalism and belief. These acts express elements of our shared values that contribute to our culture.

Long time University of Iowa professor of Leisure Studies Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt expresses this desire to have leisure time and opportunities serve a communal purpose beyond the individual benefits. Dr. Hunnicutt’s 2000 Journal of Leisure Research from the National Recreation and Park Association is below. Pay special attention to the challenges Hunnicutt expresses with Consumerism, Access, and matters of Integrity. We will return to those themes multiple times in the semester. Do you think Hunnicutt is hopeful or pessimistic about American sport and recreation in the late 2020s?

Read “Our Reform Heritage: Recovering the Vision of Community Leisure Service”

Sport and recreation is not a social science unto itself. It is a construction that is influenced and partially explained by every branch of social science – as well as the physical sciences – as a human need as we have learned to live in community with others. This course will introduce students to some of the fields of social and business sciences that impact the way we organize and perform sport and recreation in the United States. This format is chosen with the goal to allow the effort to be as collaborative as sport and recreation themselves.