Sports and Social Class- Research Presentation

Outline

I. History of Sports associated with Social Classes

A. The beginning of organized sports began in the US in the 1840s. It began with an organization called the New York Knickerbockers which was a group of upper class professionals consisting of doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. It was a very exclusive group based on class. The first organized sport to develop out of this group was baseball. It wasn’t until winning took precedence over exclusive club membership, that the Knickerbockers began allowing members of different social classes to join the organization with free membership (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

B. Organized sports then continued their development in the university environment. Since only the privileged could afford to attend college in the 1840s-1850s, the development of organized sports remained in the hands of the upper class. Also, since mainly only white males were allowed attendance to universities at this time, different ethnicities and females were excluded from the development and engagement of organized sports (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

C. Most ethnicities were denied access to sports as well as working class white members of society. The wealthier members of society who organized sports met to discuss, play, and watch sports during weekday afternoons. Since working class members had to work at that time they were denied participation in sports. It wasn’t until the 1920s when the 8 hour workday was upheld, that working-class citizens largely became involved in sports (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

D. Basketball was developed as an American sport in 1892. It was dominated by white males and played at universities across the US. However, post-Civil War brought about the playing of basketball in the slums and ghettos of the US and became a vital form of expression for members of the inner-city.

II. Gender’s role in Sports and Social Classes

A. “In the mid-nineteenth century, sports outside the collegiate world for upper-class girls and women consisted primarily of proper activities, such as croquet, archery, and tennis. Women’s sports were acceptable to society only if they were considered social affairs, promoted health, were noncompetitive, and were not strenuous enough to require a special costume” (Beginning of Organized Sports in America). Women began to break free from these restrictions with the bicycle. The bicycle required women to break from their strict dress code of dresses or skirts and allowed women the freedom to travel alone without a male escort. The bicycle prompted women not needing an escort and prompted a more flexible dress code needed for other sports (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

B. Collegiate sports grew in the 1920s and 1930s for women. However, there still remained sports which society did not believe women should participate in. Track and field, basketball, and softball were seen as too masculine for females and only women belonging to the working-class participated in these sports. Therefore, these sports became associated with the working-class. And women belonging to the upper class were restricted to safer and more feminine sports such as golf and tennis. And golf and tennis were then associated with members of upper class society (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

III. Race’s role in Sports and Social Classes

A. African Americans were largely excluded form sports due to racism and discrimination.

B. Jim Crow laws restricted sports teams that consisted of white and black players, so African Americans began forming their own teams in the 1880s (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

C. It wasn’t until 1976 that professional sports teams began to integrate, starting with baseball (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

D. Basketball became an integral part of black culture and to members of the inner-city. Today, “sixty-one percent of NCAA Division I college basketball players are black. Eighty percent of NBA players are black. Basketball, especially in these areas, teaches social skills, rights of passage, creativity and cultural identity” (Basketball: The Black Game).

IV. Education and Sports

A. Football was the biggest collegiate sport during the rise of organized sports. Colleges opposed the development of professional football teams due to the threat it posed against college teams. Baseball and boxing were considered lower class sports since members of those sports were not required to attend college. However, before professional football leagues were created, if you wanted to play football, you had to attend college, and therefore the sports was considered higher on the social ladder than baseball and boxing. Colleges feared with the creation of the professional football league, less talented players would attend college, and the sport would gain a bad reputation (Beginning of Organized Sports in America).

V. An International Perspective of Sports and Social Class

A. Soccer began as a sport that was played for the elite at elite universities in England. It began to spread to lower class universities and then the church adopted it to help evangelize and build their congregation. Many of these teams that began in the church still exist today. Players and fans of football spanned across many social classes in the 20^th century (Keyes).

B. There was a rise in violence in the football stadiums in the late 20^th century and many associated hooliganism with working-class males (Keyes). Wikipedia states that “Hooliganism” refers to unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour. Such behaviour is commonly associated with sports fans. The term can also apply to general rowdy behaviour and vandalism, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. At the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, 400 people were injured and 96 died due to being crushed inside pens when violence and hooliganism broke out (Smith). The violence at the games gave football a bad reputation in England and many of the middle and upper class fans stopped attending games. Therefore, hooliganism had a large effect on football having the stigma of a lower class sport. The attendance of the upper class did not return until around 1992. Football in England is climbing back up the social ladder since the ticket prices are becoming much more expensive and only the working class and wealthy can afford the high ticket prices (Keyes).

C. Soccer in the US began as an immigrant sport. It was played in the slums of New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Universities refused to add soccer to their curriculum due to its association to immigrants and the poor (Smith).

VI. The Continued Stigma of Sports and Social Classes

A. Golf still remains a sport for the upper class due to country club dues, expensive equipment, and the high rates to play on golf courses. Tennis also is still seen as a sport for the upper class due to its country club membership dues.

B. Soccer remains seen as a lower class sport with its limited equipment and space to play. Also, it is still seen as a sport that is widely played in slums.

C. Football, basketball, and baseball fall in the middle of the social ladder due to the organizers of these sports being members of the upper-class, the sports players themselves being paid the big bucks, and its fans ranging from the lower to upper classes.

D. Since the development of organized sports in the 1840s, sports have crossed both race and gender borders.

Works Cited

Basketball: The Black Game. The University of Virginia. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~class/am483_97/projects/walters/mjbball.html.

Beginning of Organized Sports in America. Texas State University. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.

http://www.hhp.txstate.edu/hper/faculty/pankey/1310/ch17Bread.htm.

“Hooliganism.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004.

Web. 3 Oct. 2011.

Keyes, David. Shifts in the Class Identity of English Soccer. Culture of Soccer. 28 Oct. 2007. Web.

3 Oct. 2011. http://cultureofsoccer.com/2007/10/28/shifts-in-the-class-identity-of-english-soccer/.

Smith, Brandon J. History of Soccer/ Association Football. The People History. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/soccerhistory.html.