The Sport Ethic

According to the article Positive Deviance Amongst Athletes, sport ethic is known as sacrifice for the game and challenging limits of these extreme athletes. Sports ethic helps set apart "real athletes" from others while creating vulnerability to deviant behavior such as drug use. It also enforces that these athletes follow both the written rules and the rules that are commonly known within the teammates and their coaches. The four main dimensions of this concept according to Hughes and Coakley are first being an athlete involves making sacrifices for the game, second being an athlete involves striving for distinction, third being an athlete involves accepting risks and playing through pain and lastly, being an athlete involves refusing to accept limits in the pursuit of possibilities. I think that many athletes conform to this set of beliefs because it is a commonality between the players of a team. It is almost built into them from their teammates and their coaches to strive to be the best and not put up with any road blocks. In my personal experiences in sports I have experienced some of these dimensions of sport ethic. When I was in High School I used to play water polo on a competitive level. This meant that I had to try my best at all times and work extremely hard to be a part of the team and raise up to their expectations. I remember specifically my Junior year I was injured and was pressured to play still because I was the MVP. They essentially felt like they needed me to win against specific teams.  Lastly, I think that when people play sports and have rival teams it makes it even more difficult to say no to playing when injured because the players want it that much more. Many factors seem to come into play when it comes to sports and especially because of the competitiveness.