History of sport
History of sport is probably as old as
the existence of people.
 Sport has been a useful way for people
to increase their mastery of nature and
the environment.
 The history of sport can teach us a great
deal about social changes and about the
nature of sport itself.
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Sport seems to involve basic human skills
being developed and exercised for their
own sake, in parallel with being exercised
for their usefulness.
Examples of skills which have become
sports
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Gladiators in Rome fought and killed for the
delectation of the audience, rather than to
protect the Empire.
Yachting is the travel across water for
enjoyment or competition rather than for
transport or commerce
Running is done on a course for a fixed
length of time or distance, rather than
simply to catch a bus.
Stone-age drawings were discovered in
the Libyan desert depicting among other
activities, swimming and archery.
 The art itself is an example of interest in
skills unrelated to the functional tasks of
staying alive, and is itself evidence of
there being leisure time available.

It also depicts other non-functional
activities such as ritual etc.
 Therefore, although there is scant direct
evidence of sport from these sources, it is
reasonable to extrapolate that there was
some activity at these times resembling
sport.

Captain Cook, when he first visited the
Hawaiian Islands, in 1778, reported on the
native people surfing.
 The native American Indians engaged in
games and sports before the coming of
Europeans, such as lacrosse type ball
games, running, and other athletic
activities.

The ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations
played serious ballgames. The courts
used at that time are still used today.
 Individual sports, such as wrestling and
archery, have been practiced worldwide
since ancient times.

Sport has been increasingly organized
and regulated from the time of the Ancient
Olympics up to the present century.
 Activities necessary for food and survival
became regulated activities done for
pleasure or competition on an increasing
scale, e.g. hunting, fishing, horticulture.

Ancient China
There are artifacts and structures which
suggest that Chinese people engaged in
activities which meet our definition of sport
as early as 4000 years BC.
 The origin and development of China's
sports activities seem to have been
closely related to the production, work,
war and entertainment of the time.
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Ancient China
Gymnastics appears to have been a
popular sport in China's past. It certainly
remains so today, as the skill of Chinese
acrobats is internationally recognized.
 Any other reason they are excellent in
acrobatic endeavors?
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Ancient Egypt
Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that
a range of sports were well developed and
regulated several thousands of years ago,
including swimming and fishing.
 This is not surprising perhaps given the
importance of the Nile in the life of Egypt.
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Ancient Egypt
Other sports included javelin throwing,
high jump and wrestling.
 Again, the nature of the sports popular at
the time suggests close correspondence
with everyday non-sporting activities.

Ancient Greece
A wide range of sports were already in
operation at the time of the Ancient Greek
Empire.
 Wrestling, running, boxing, javelin, discus
throwing, and chariot racing were
prevalent.
 This suggests that the military culture of
Greece was an influence on the
development of its sports.
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Ancient Greece
 The
Olympic games were held every
four years in Ancient Greece.
 The games were held not simply as a
sporting event, but as a celebration of
individual excellence, cultural and
artistic variety, and a showplace for
architectural and sculptural innovation.
Modern history of sport
The Industrial Revolution and mass
production brought increased leisure
which allowed increases in spectator
sports, less elitism in sports, and greater
accessibility.
 With the advent of mass media and
global communication, professionalism
became prevalent in sports.

This furthered sports popularity in
general.
 Perhaps in a reaction to the demands of
contemporary life, there have been
developments in sport which are best
described as post-modern: extreme
ironing being a notable example.
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There is also a move towards
adventure sports as a form of escaping
or transcending the routines of life,
examples being white water rafting,
canyoning, BASE jumping, and more
genteelly, orienteering.
History of Sport in
America
Topical Outline
Reason for study of sport history
 Pre-Colonial America
 Colonial America
 Technological and Industrial revolutions
 Post Civil War
 The 20th Century
 Summary
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Why is the History of Sport
Important?
To truly understand the sociology of
sport, it is first important to
understand the history of sport.
 How sport was developed
 How sport was affected by the
historical, cultural and social
traditions of the time period

Pre-Colonial America
Population spread widely across the
country
 Physical Activity and games were very
important, and often linked to spiritual
beliefs
 Common Sports: lacrosse, archery,
running
 Staying fit was very important

Colonial America (1600s-1800’s)
 Religion
(Puritanism)
 Hard work (to stay alive, and for
religious purposes)
 Sport was most prevalent in remote
areas
 Sport mirrored the challenges of the
times and region

horse racing, shooting, cockfighting
Industrial Revolution (1800’s)
 Factories
developed
 Population moved into the city
 New recreation needed
 More time and money available
 Horse racing still popular
Technological and Industrial
Revolutions (late 1700s- 1861)
Increased technology
Increased recreation time because
production was faster
 People moved to cities
 Travel was faster and easier:
 18th century, boat, horse and walking
 Steam engine (1807) for boats and
railroad
 Very important for organized sports
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Technological and Industrial
Revolutions (late 1700s- 1861) (cont…)
Population expands west
 Big companies are formed
 Immigrants brought their own sports
 Modern spectator sports rise (boxing,
running, horse racing)

Post Civil War (1865-1900)
Civil War slowed sporting activities
 Even more movement towards cities
 More time and money available
 New working structure was seen as
“femanizing” society (make it soft).
 Sports helped to “masculinize”
society
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Post Civil War (1865-1900)
(Cont…)
Sport became very class specific
 Upper class tried to exclude lower
classes
 Different sports adopted by different
classes, African Americans no longer
accepted in sport
 Rise of Intercollegiate Athletics
 First event in 1852, many events 1870’s
 Society became highly attached to the
sport industry
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Post Civil War (1865-1900)
 Corporate
(Cont…)
involvement in sport
 Lots of money for sport and fitness
The 20th Century
Period of dramatic sport growth
 Corporate Sport and health push
 More $ spent on sports equipment than by
all schools
 Improved Equipment
 Social Involvement
 Part of educational system
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Major Factors Affecting Sport
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In your mind, what was the major factor
affecting sport during each of the
following periods?
 Pre-Colonial America
 Colonial America
 Technological and Industrial revolutions
 Post Civil War
 The 20th Century
Women's roles in sports
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Women's experiences in the sporting life of
the United States defy neat historical
generalizations.
In part this is because women never
constituted a single group, and their
behaviors and attitudes never conformed to
a single general pattern.
Women's roles in sports

The evolution of women’s role in sport in
the United States can be divided into three
major periods: the colonial era, the
transitional nineteenth century, and the age
of modern sports.
The Colonial Era: Women and
Traditional Sports and Games
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About 1600, before Europeans colonized
the land that would become the United
States, the earliest American sportswomen
were Native Americans
Sports and other displays of physical
prowess were embedded in the rhythms
and relations of ordinary life.
The Colonial Era: Women and
Traditional Sports and Games
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Religious ceremonies, for example, called
on women, and men, to dance for hours at
a time, while rites of passage from
maidenhood to womanhood included
physical displays and tests.
Ball games occurred in the context of
women's daily tasks, and the outcomes
could affect one's place in the family or the
village.
Mid-17th century
On warm summer days in New England,
husbands and wives fished and sailed on
the numerous waterways.
 Towns like Boston, Providence, and
Hartford offered an even broader variety
of sports and recreations, ranging from
dances to races to fist fights.
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Mid-17th century
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By the early eighteenth century, emerging
cities were sites for public, commercial,
and physical displays, including tightrope
dancing by women and men.
The Nineteenth Century:
Domesticity
The pursuit of active sports by women
was not to persist, however.
 During the second half of the eighteenth
century, a series of complex changes
altered gender roles and relations.
 Enlightenment ideology and the emergent
capitalist economy combined to redefine
women's place, to move them into the
home and away from public activity, and
to emphasize biological differences (from
men) as grounds for keeping them there.
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The Nineteenth Century:
Domesticity
During the first half of the nineteenth
century, perceptions and real experiences
suggested to some people that the health
of middle- and upper-class women in
urbanizing areas was declining.
 Educators, doctors, and writers of popular
magazine articles responded with
analyses and prescriptions for improving
women's health, including calls for
renewed physical exertion via exercises
and games.
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The Nineteenth Century:
Domesticity
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The logic of the health literature was
simple: if women were to fulfill their roles as
caretakers of families, they needed to
maintain their physical and mental health.
People such as Catharine Beecher and
Mary Lyons argued for the physical
education of women, started schools, and
laid out regimens of calisthenics, domestic
exercises (e.g., sweeping), and traditional
activities such as walking and riding.
The Nineteenth Century:
Domesticity
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An even more significant challenge to the
nearly century-old ideology that placed
women in the home and in subservience to
men came in the form of a machine, the
bicycle.
Invented in Europe in the early 19th century,
early versions of the bicycle had appeared
in various forms and had become the object
of short-lived fads through the 1860s.
The Nineteenth Century:
Domesticity
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Then came the invention of the “ordinary”
(one large and one small wheel) and,
subsequently, the “safety” cycle, and the
latter especially appealed to women.
Bicycle riding, and even some racing,
became popular, and the practice afforded
women with a means of physical mobility
and freedom that they had not known for
generations.
Impact of war on sports
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After 1941 more and more women took
jobs that had once belonged to the men
who went abroad to fight.
Even professional baseball opened its
doors to women via the All-American Girls
Baseball League financed by Philip Wrigley
of chewing gum and Chicago Cubs fame.
Now famous in part because of the movie,
A League of Their Own, the All-American
Girls Baseball League began play in 1943
in mid-size cities in the Great Lakes region.
African-American women and sports
In the 1940’s as well, an even more
significant movement developed in African
American colleges.
 Track and field teams were training at
places such as Tuskegee Institute and
Tennessee State, and these colleges would
produce the athletes that would integrate
U.S. women's Olympic teams and
revolutionize the contests and the records.
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African-American women and
sports
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By the early 1960s African-American
athletes such as Wilma Rudolph ran
record-pace after record-pace, opening
doors for other black women and paving
the way for Jackie Joyner-Kersee and
Florence Griffith Joyner, among numerous
others.
Effects of title IX
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Legislation that made colleges (that
accepted federal funds) have to offer the
same amount of sports teams for women
as there are for men (1972).
How many sports leagues for women are
out there now?
Conclusion
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There has been a dynamic and continuing
growth of women's sports since the late
1960’s.
Triathlons, marathons, soccer, aerobics,
weightlifting, rugby, skiing, two professional
basketball leagues (although one folded in
late 1998), athletic clubs, and even
cheerleading are among the many sports
available to women, none of which existed
a century ago and few of which existed a
generation earlier.
Conclusion
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What remains unknown is the full impact
of the generation of women who are now
maturing and who grew up with
opportunities that their mothers and
grandmothers never dreamed of.