Violence and aggression really show up when it comes to contact sports played around the world. Examples could include devastating and demoralizing blows in soccer, elbows in basketball and soccer, and incidental shoves in hockey to get hold of the puck. There are many different levels and degrees of violence in sports, and as the danger increases at each level, the player’s safe health and well-being is further jeopardized. According to Mike Smith, a respected Canadian sports sociologist concludes that there are four categories that identify violence in sports.

The first level of violence is brutal body contact, which includes physical practices common in certain sports such as football and soccer, which all athletes accept as part of the sport in which they compete. Examples could be like tackles in soccer and football, and body checks in hockey. These punches have great force and sometimes consequences, but this is what these athletes are paid to do and are expected to do persistently. The second level of violence is borderline violence, which includes practices that violate the rules of the game but are accepted by most players because they are part of competitive strategies; This is also known as “mind games”. Examples of this could be the kickback in baseball, the fist fight in hockey, and the elbow or nudge while playing soccer to scare the opponent, to instill that level of fear. The third level of violence is quasi-criminal violence, which includes practices that violate the formal rules of the game and can lead to suspensions for being contrary to the norm of that sport. Examples of this could include low shots, late shots, suction cup shots, and flagrant fouls that could harm the athlete. The last level of violence is criminal violence, which includes illegal practices to the point that athletes condemn them without question.

Examples of this could be assaults during a game to be premeditated to seriously injure another player, such as a hockey player using his stick as a weapon, or baseball pitchers intentionally throwing batters, particularly in the head region and the neck. These four reasons are very interesting because athletes and analysts break down the fact of violence in sport to explain certain types of situations that can occur. Before I saw violence as a thing, causing harm to a person even if it was not intentional, but these four reasons help people, especially sports athletes like me, to understand the seriousness of some violence and how some are accepted in the Sports world. .

There are factors and characteristics of a crowd at a sporting outing that cause violence, animosity, and enmity regardless of the sport. There are nine known characteristics that can lead to this level of “hatred” from viewers towards others while watching and experiencing the game:

1. The size of the crowd and the standing or sitting patterns of the spectators.

2. Composition of the crowd in terms of age, gender, social class, and racial / ethnic mix.

3. Importance and meaning of the event for the spectators.

4. History of the relationship between the teams and between the spectators.

5. Crowd control strategies used at the event (police, attack dogs, surveillance cameras, or other security measures).

6. Alcohol consumption by spectators.

7. Location of the event (neutral site or site of origin of one of the opponents).

8. Reasons for viewers to attend the event and what they want to see happen at the event.

9. Importance of the team as a source of identity for the spectators (girl identity, ethnic or national identity, regional or local identity, club or gang identity).

Some of these factors are easy to think of for the reasons people fight as spectators, but the other factors on this list were new to me and helped open many more doors of knowledge. These give you insight into the thoughts and actions of the spectators and why some people do stupid things based on the many influences that surround them at every sporting event.

After doing some research and reading about violence in sports, my perceptions or misconceptions haven’t really changed; In fact, the findings helped reinforce my ideas and beliefs on this particular topic, and set in stone what I think and what analysts and practitioners believe. He believed that some violence was allowed and was believed to be the “norm” in sports, while other violence crossed that invisible line that athletes should never execute. The four parts of violence and how the Canadian sociologist broke it down really helped me reaffirm my ideas and beliefs about violence in sport and helped prove the facts that many people wonder about. The use of violence as bullying in non-contact sports can also have a significant impact for certain athletes. Examples such as in tennis players hitting their rackets, abusing the tennis ball, yelling at the referees to show a side of violence through words and actions to instill fear in their opponents without even making physical contact with them. Athletes use words, thoughts of violence to fuel their momentum in the need to be the best in their sport, regardless of whether it is contactless or non-contact. They want to be the best and they will not allow anything to get in their way to that dream and create an obstacle.