Home
Sport is a right
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/sport-right
Share
 
The URL has been copied
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/sport-right
Share
 
The URL has been copied
"I trust that volunteerism in sports or developmental organisations can play such an important role in presenting the values of sports and brightening the future for our generations."

‘Sport is a right.’ I firmly believe that sports can act as a medium for people to achieve happiness, well-being, education, and everything that they want out of their lives. Unfortunately, however, due to the fact that some governments and individuals lack human/material resources, many people seem to go through their lives without the realisation that sport can be a right. Therefore, volunteerism in sports or developmental organisations can be a great facilitator to open their eyes for their right of the access to sport.

To inform people of the right to enjoy sports, I have volunteered as a mentor at Korea National University of Education, Center for Global Bridge Leader Education, working with students from different backgrounds, whose parents are not Koreans. This is, in part, because they do not get much access to public education in Korea. The mentoring programme aims to provide the students with more opportunities for education. As for my teaching backgrounds, I taught physical activities and sports to six students, three of whom were multi-cultural students.

At the beginning of the programme, the students learned how to socialise with friends through physical activities. This is because I had a feeling that some of the students had some difficulties in getting along with other classmates. Thus, I included several competitive activities which provoked more interactions between the students. Specifically, one of them made a great deal of progress. He was not willing to participate in the activities at the beginning of the semester; however, after he had made a great contribution to the competitions, other classmates seemed to start appreciating his presence and participation.

My observation was that he became more confident and socialised from the realisation of his competencies in sports.  Furthermore, I conducted an experiment to get across a hidden scientific principle in baseball hitting to raise awareness and interest in science. The students soon became interested in it and performed a great presentation concerning the mechanism of hitting the ball, based on the familiarity with and pleasure in sport. In this regard, I strongly believe that I was able to help my students to appreciate the joyfulness of sports that they would not otherwise have realised, and finally use the right to access sports.

Despite the fact that a myriad of volunteers have been working to preserve the right to participate in sports, many people are not aware of the value of sports, which might be attributable to the lack of recourses and enough information. In this regard, I trust that volunteerism in sports or developmental organisations can play such an important role in presenting the values of sports and brightening the future for our generations.

Authors