Amateur Sports of the Elderly: A Chance for Health and a Higher Quality of Life

A significant increase in sports-leisure activity events in recent years presents the opportunity to compete in all age categories. Among the many sport varieties, special attention ought to be paid to amateur sports—recreational sports, particularly in the context of the increasing leisure time among the elderly. Recreational sports activities are free of many distortions and defects of the modern professional sport. Recreational sports are egalitarian, not exclusive. The health paradigm is always at the heart of it, along with a strong emphasis on hedonism. Sport activities reveal self-fulfillment as the highest needs, giving fulfillment and satisfaction. The ease in the selection of a sports goal makes the amateur sports an important tool for the shaping of persons’ life and health. A sports goal, which is participating in sports events, provides a strong motivation for systematic work. Striving for transgression is a source of strong emotions and satisfaction. Struggling with a persons’ own body, with old age, may be a valuable challenge that would positively impact wellbeing in the psychosocial aspect. This study shows a social phenomenon of sports activity among the elderly, dynamically growing in Poland. It also presents multiple benefits for the general wellbeing as well as the potential threats which a lack of distance to the sports rivalry may cause when it crosses the line behind which a persistent pursuit of the purpose (sport result) may end up in health damage. The line between recreation and sport is thin and difficult to distinguish. Animators, trainers, and instructors need to skillfully manage the interests of older people so that their involvement in physical activity determines a safe and healthy lifestyle.

Article by Paweł F. Nowak,from Opole University of Technology, Poland.

Full access: http://mrw.so/KLRs5

                                                        

   Image by SFailes,from Flickr-cc.