Agents Of Sport Socialization

As I am sure we all know what socialization means but when socialization is involved with sport there are different agents that defines sport socialization. The agents of sport socialization all consists of:

• Parents
• Siblings
• Schools
• Community
• Peers
• Media

It starts with the family because the parents are the primary source of why the youth may paticipate in a sport. That could be because the parents played a sport before but it could also be because the parents want their kids to be active and fit at a young age so when they get older they will have that same motivation to put in for the future. Siblings would play the same part as the parents but would be a better fit to involve themselves in the sport with them. School is just as important as parents and siblings. Playing a sport in school is a great way to gain friends and develop more of a competitive spirit. Community is less-important than the other agents but still has a significant role in sport socialization. When someone plays a sport they tend to enjoy it more when they have people from the community going to the games and supporting them. Also community is other programs that they may partake in such as intramurals in middle school and other after school programs. The last two agents of sport socialization consist of peers and mass media. Peer groups such as tee groups can be a positive influence because teens tend to be attractive to themselves and have the same interests rather than at a younger age. Teen groups also enjoy having a companion along with them to do sports. Mass media is all about athletes as role models and how they influence kids or teens play a certain sport because that's what they admire in an athlete. Media can also change the aspect on how the youth views an athlete due to what the athletes may have done wrong such athletes like Michael Vick, and Lance Armstrong.

All these agents are the aspects of sport socialization and what it really means. Nothing seems to be changing for the agents in sport.