The article below is about how Lance Armstrong broke cycling rules by doping, saying, "We did what we had to do to win." He was pressured by a system of society that rewarded money, fame and career stability. This has demonstrated that deviance is socially constructed.
www.espn.com/olympics/cyc...

In the article below, it is said that ""The sport is designed for this to happen": Tua Tagovailoa is not an exception." The context is referring to Tua's multiple concussions. This article normalizes trauma and injury which clearly demonstrates disrespected pain.

www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/s...

Caster Semenya is a popular sprinter who won two Olympic medals. The norm that she faced is that individuals need to fit into specified categories of either male or female to compete in sports. She was born with naturally higher testosterone levels and restricted.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Ross Powless was inducted into the hall of fame for popularizing indoor lacrosse in the 1950's and won many awards like four Mann cups, most valuable player and even more. His achievements helped break racial barriers in lacrosse and showed that indigenous people belonged in national sports.

Its really inspiring to see someone as young as her already making an impact in curling. Considering her age, it must be hard to not only compete but taking that step to make change and create more diversity within a sport.

Jordin Tootoo is a Canadian hockey player with an Inuit and Ukrainian background. He is known to be the first Inuk player drafted and raised in Nunavut to play in the NHL. The video below explains his experience with racism and derogatory slurs in hockey.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

For Week 5, introduce the class to a Canadian Indigenous athlete or coach OR a Canadian BIPOC athlete or coach in a predominately white sport (e.g., ice hockey, curling, swimming, skiing).

For Week 4, use your sociological imagination. Consider what your physical activity, recreation, or sport opportunities will look like with a full time career.

For Week 3 (youth and sport), you can provide evidence of what sport and recreation organizations are doing to make sport fun for youth OR to make it safe for youth. This could be policies, programs, or resources.

For week 2, find an article or video where one of the following theories has been used (conflict, interactionism, feminist, critical race) in a sport, leisure, recreation, or physical activity context. Identify the theory used.

When I worked full time, I was too tired and had no time for sports or the gym. In the future, having kids will just add more responsibilities than what I have now. Work and family life will affect my chances to stay active, not just my own choices, but how society ultimately shaped me.

9 Sports makes youth sports fun, safe, and inclusive by offering non-contact, age-appropriate programs, promoting sportsmanship, allowing all kids to play, encouraging multiple sports, keeping scores age-appropriate, and celebrating effort, participation, and teamwork.

This video applies to the feminism theory, mentioning the difference between the salary of women in the WNBA and the men in the NBA. I believe that women should get paid more than they do, as they put in the same amount of practice and effort as most NBA players.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4C...

I agree with poker not being a sport, due to its lack of skill and reliance on luck. Poker also lacks the phisical activity needed for a sport, just as esports also lacks in these phisical components. Although I would agree that esports is more of a sport than poker.

An activity that people may consider a sport, but I would disagree with is chess. Chess may have some commonalities with sports, like the strategy, the competition and the level of thinking. With that said, I believe that it lacks the physical aspects that I believe are required for a "sport."

Week 1 topic: How do you define a sport? What activities are leisure but not sport? What is an activity that someone might say is sport, but you disagree? Please answer one of these questions.