The Point and Purpose of Sport – a Few Considerations

Abstract

Self-validation and self-improvement, peer and public approval, sense of purpose and understanding of greatness are components of the motives for doing sports. But when it comes to professional involvement in sports, the stakes get high and the reasons dramatically shift. However, although the present major concern of theoreticians is the emphasis on the contemporary industrialization of sport, the discussion about its aspects can only be plausible if the history of sport's development gets taken into account, for the motive and justifi cation of sport have always been greatly infl uenced by the broader cultural context of the communities, making sport a significant part of the relation man-world and thus prone to diff erent approaches. Sport has evolved rather ambivalently, from a mere physiological need for survival to a part of sacred rituals, to profane entertainment and sacred involvement again, and to a realm for exhibiting mechanisms of power (coming from the spirit of competitiveness and togetherness) and a lucrative "machinery". Hope remains that understanding the development of its purpose would shed some light on its present purpose, facilitating the direction of further, more focused investigations.