The Teesra

Category: other sports

  • Why does sport matter? It’s so much more than just a game.

    This post is a much extended version of a 500-word assignment on why football is “more than a game”, written for an online course.
    It has been edited to take account of some helpful comments from reviewers, and to include some slightly more coherent conclusions than could be accommodated in the original word-count.

    I have just completed an online course with FutureLearn — Football — more than a game?, with University of Edinburgh. History, finance & governance, community engagement, just a little politics…fascinating!

    The course provided lots of data on revenues and TV viewing figures, and reports of the social, economic, diplomatic and philanthropic activities delivered by, or in the name of, “football”. But I don’t think this evidence of the global reach of football really captures the essence of why football, or sport in general, matters to fans.

    For me, the question seems to be more about “ownership” of the game, and that sense of “belonging” to a “tribe” — beyond being a fan of a particular team or national side, this is more to do with those who “get” sports, and those who don’t.

    It really is so much more than just a game.

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  • “Tipping the Balance” — when resources outweigh demands

    “Tipping the Balance” — when resources outweigh demands

    Back in October I attended a fascinating event, hosted by LagomMind in partnership with OpeningUp Cricket, looking at Mental Health in Cricket.

    The panel featured Fabian Cowdrey, Dr. Jamie Barker from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, and Mark Boyns from OpeningUp.

    It was a thought-provoking evening, so much so that it has taken me a while to process everything (and to catch up on some follow-up reading).

    My headline learnings on the evening time included:

    • the dangers inherent in the modern belief that the only route to success is via obsession — “the harder I practice, the ‘luckier’ I get”…but finding a balance between obsessive practice and “civilian” life might seem the healthier option;
    • the impact of irrational beliefs on mental well-being — Jamie told the story of a cricketer who fervently believed that he should score 100s whenever he batted, and became extremely upset when dismissed in the 90s;
    • ultimately, the need to trust yourself, and find what works for you.
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  • Doping: what do we know? What can coaches do?

    Does cricket have a problem doping?  Specifically, with the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)?  I would have said not, until I read this article from Andy Bull, in the Guardian from November 2017.  And then, last week, another piece on doping in cricket, this time from Tim Wigmore in the Daily Telegraph (subscription item).

    So it was quite timely that I attended the inaugural lecture of Professor James Skinner, recently appointed as the Director of the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London.

    Professor Skinner and his colleagues have carried out a number of  research projects investigating perceptions of and attitudes towards doping in sport – public, athletes & coaches, dopers, young athletes.

    And he has come to the conclusion that knowing why athletes dope is at least as important as knowing how when trying to devise appropriate counter-measures.

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