Montes 1

Anthony Montes
English 113B 9:30
Professor Ditch
22 March 2014
Sport Culture
The sport of American football was first played on November 6, 1869. It was played by
to college school, Princeton and Rutegers. This first game was a mix of rugby and soccer. In
1875 the first intercollegiate football association was formed by Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and
Colombia. Since then the rules have changed and progressed to what we today call football. I
consider myself in the American football culture because I have grown up watching and playing
football. Some of the benefit of having any sport culture is having discipline. Another reason to
have a sport culture is to relieve some stress. I argue that having a sport culture is good because
it well give you discipline, you could relieve some stress, and another thing is playing any sports
could improve your academic skills .
The football culture is a wide culture in America. According to the article Culture and
Communication the word culture means any group of people that share a way of life. It also
states that culture makes up the life of its members including language, norms and values, and so
forth. People in the culture could pick up a ball and relieve stress instantly others do it to have
fun. They can play catch with a friend or plan a game with a group. Some people use football as
Montes 2

a way to relieve stress and forget about their worries. They let out all the frustration and
problems on the field. That they get throughout the week by personal problems. Football is a full
contact sport, which means you are going to get hit and hard if you are in the way of someone
relieving the pain of the everyday life. People that watch football also watch it to relieve stress
and forget the everyday life. Any person can play the sport it may take practice but one day one
can play at the professional level.
In December of my freshman year in high school I was in a physical education class and
was told that as a class we would have a little football tournament. I was excited and scared at
the same time. I had never played the game before so I was not sure what to expect. Coach just
told me block him with any means necessary. So I did that. Later I told coach that I wanted to
play because it was fun. I played spring ball that year and joined the team. Since then I have
played football any chance I get. That is how I started to feel like I was part of the football
culture. I play football so I can forget about everything that is going on in my life. I use this
object to play the game and have fun. For me playing football isnt only a culture but also a
family. The teammates are a big part of the family portion. They all helped me improve my form
and improve on anything else they saw I was doing wrong. After playing football I notice that is
why I am happy to be a part of this culture.
Having this sport culture throughout my high school years help me with my academic
achievement. I had notice that I had better grades. I was pushed to have good grades in order to
Montes 3

be able to play football. I had some difficult times in my high school but football was there for
me. In the article School Sport and Academic Achievement the article states that several
studies have shownphysical education and school sport did not harm academic achievement
and may enhance achievement in some subject.(Bradley,n.p) This shows that by playing any
school sports and being part of the sport culture you can increase you academic achievement
level.
Another way sports can help one become a better person. Being involved in sports
culture may improve the way you are. In the article College Athletics and Student
Achievement: The Evidence at Small Colleges (Emerson, 65) it states that one learns life
lessons: teamwork, discipline, resilience, perseverance, how to play by the rules, and how to
accept outcomes one may not like. This states that by having a sport in your life will help you
gain qualities that makes you become a better person. It well helps you in a way of teamwork,
discipline, and how to accept outcomes that you may not like it. Those are some example of how
you make an effort to become a better person.
Sports gives people so many opportunities in life. I have a friend who got a full ride to
college because he was playing a sport. He played football and he got a scholarship. That covers
his college and he also got a new laptop. He doesnt need to worry about paying school because
of his scholarship. As long has he play football in the college is attending. The reason why he
got this scholarship was because he would have good grades although out high school. Another
Montes 4

reason was because he was a good football player. This is an example of why have sport culture
is a good thing. It helps you with a lot of thing as well like getting a full ride scholarship or
getting a good job.
After playing football for a while I had notice I developed discipline. My family had seen
that I had changed. I had an improvement in my behavior and my family was impressed by that
fact that I had a different behavior. I use to be disrespectful to other and would treat people
badly. I was thinking on how I developed discipline and I had found that it was because I was
playing football. Football has shaped me into becoming a better person.
Another thing was that I was going through a lot of stress. Playing football helped me a
lot because I would forget all of the negative thing in my life and I would enjoy the moment.
The world is full of a lot of fear and a lot of negativity, and a lot of judgment. I just think
people need to start shifting into joy and happiness. As corny as it sounds, we need to make a
shift. This quote is by Ellen DeGeneres means that we need to forget the negative thing in life
and shift it with a positives thing in life. To being out the most joy and happiness in our life out
and forget the bad things. That what I would do in the field I would forget all things that would
stress me out or even get me mad.
Sports culture doesnt have to be just about football it can be anything and from all over
the world. Such as like any other culture there is. In the article Coming Home to Van Nuys it
talks about how there is different kinds of ethnic food including Thai, Chinese,
Montes 5

Salvadoran,and Japanese. This is the same as sports there are different types of sport all
across the world. A sport that around world is soccer and its from England. Another sport that is
well playing all around the world is tennis it is from France and people play it all over the world.
Being in a sport culture doesnt me that it has to be a sport where you are from. It can be from
any place in the world. Being able to join the sport culture is a great to try something new if you
never were in a sport culture. Sometimes people are born into a sport culture. Its the
same when you are born you join the culture that you are from. An example is like if you are
Mexican you born in the Hispanic culture. Another example is how the Italians are passionate
with soccer. They are born there so they are dedicated to the sport. Traditions are form around a
sport.
If you ever watch football you would see that the fan stress out because of whether their
team is winning or losing. That may not be the case in everyone. Playing the sport is a little bit
different from watching but you are still being considering part of that culture. You are still
being considered part of the culture because you are sharing norms and something everybody
likes.
One downfall of being passionate of sports is that students in any type of sports get more
chances then people who are not playing any sports. They get these chances because of their
coach helped them. Some of people might take advantage of getting a second chance. I had a
friend who was in a soccer team and he would get away with a lot of stuff. Until a teacher got
Montes 6

mad and would let him get away any more. He would get second chances on test and turning in
home work.
Reviewing what I said earlier a football is a fundamental tool needed to play, and I relate
to the culture by playing the game and joining the family. Becoming a part of this great culture
has been something that I believe has had positive impact on me.



Montes 7

Works Cited
BRADLEY, JOHN, FRANCIS KEANE, and SUSAN CRAWFORD. "School Sport And
Academic Achievement." Journal Of School Health 83.1 (2013): 8-13. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Emerson, John, Rachelle L Brooks, and Elaine Croft McKenzie. "College Athletics and
Student Achievement: The Evidence at Small Colleges." New Directions for Institutional
Research, 2009.144 (2009): 65-76.

Loh Tsing,Sandra. Coming Home to Van Nuys Last time of used 4/2/2014

Kurylo ,Anastacia Culture and Comunication Last time of used 4/2/2014