DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT IN THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS – AND HOW THEY
SHAPED SPORTS AND GAMES
QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED:
WHAT PART DID PUBLIC SCHOOLS PLAY IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SPORTS?
WHAT QUALITIES DID THEY INSTILL AND WHY?
HOW DID THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SPREAD GAMES
THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE?
WHAT WAS MEANT BY BEING AN AMATEUR AND
PROFESSIONAL?
1800-1900s
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BRITISH SOCIETY SHIFTED FROM RURAL TO URBAN
 VARIOUS ACTS WERE INRTRODUCED AND SPORTING BODIES
EMERGED
 RAILWAYS MEANT THAT PEOPLE COULD TRAVEL
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS EDUCATED THE WEALTHY AND THEY BECAME
LEADERS WITHIN SOCIETY
IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT
OF GAMES
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USED FOR DISCIPLINE AND BEHAVIOUR
SPECIALIST FACILITIES
PROFESSIONAL COACHES
HOUSE SYSTEM DEVELOPED
INTER-SCHOOL FIXTURES DEVELOPED
ATHLETICISM WAS BORN
QUALITIES DEVELOPED
THROUGH GAMES……
 COURAGE
 LEADERSHIP
 ENDURANCE
 SELF-RELIANCE
 SELF-CONTROL
 QUALITIES
FOR THE BATTLE FIELD
 TRUE GENTLEMAN – TO PLAY SPORT
FOR INTRINSIC REASONS
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOYS
BECAME…….
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UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
MISSINARIES
EDUCATORS
ADMINISTRATORS
VICARS
INDUSTRIALISTS
INVOLVED IN SETTING UP NATIONAL GOV.
BODIES
ARMY OFFICERS
TASK…….
 WHAT
HELPED TO PROMOTE GAMES?
 HOW WERE GAMES ORGANISED?
 HOW DID THE EX-PUBLIC
SCHOOLBOYS HELP TO SPREAD TEAM
GAMES?
HOMEWORK
 WHAT
DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN
AMATEUR AND A PROFESSIONAL IN
SPORT?
 HOW IS SPORT ORGANISED AND
ADMINISTERED IN THE UK?
AMATEURISM AND
PROFESSIONALISM
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Amateur stems from the Latin word AMARE which
means ‘to love’ They take part in sport for the love of
it rather than any extrinsic reward.
The concept of amateurism really evolved in the
nineteenth-century England among the privileged
upper classes whose sons attended elite boarding
schools such as charterhouse and Eaton. Sport was
used as a medium to exercise social control within
school – to curb rowdy behaviour! By the 1860s
games became the ideal setting for boys to learn
valuable lessons such as self-control, teamwork and
fair play. In short, the games field was the place that
your character was formed.
THEY DID NOT TRAIN!
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GENTLEMAN AMATEURS
Certain wealthy individuals who excelled in games were
referred to as a ‘gentleman amateurs’. They were from the
upper and middle classes and could afford to spend a lot of
their time playing sport for enjoyment. Working –class men,
however, could not afford to miss work in order to play, so at a
time when spectator sport was growing, if they were good
enough, they played full time for payment. It is very important
to understand that at this time the primary distinction between
amateurism and professionalism was social status or class, not
payment. Being an amateur was to do with a set of unwritten
rules about how life should be lived as well as how sport
should be played.
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN AMATEURISM AND PROF. WAS
SOCIAL STATUS OR CLASS, NOT PAYMENT