Social Inequalities in Sports

Whatever they say goes!

- Head coaches of any sports have unprecedented power over their athletes, other coaches and the fans.

- Some sports receive more funds than others giving the coaches an unfair advantage

- During selection of players and athletes coaches display bias by choosing favorites based on bias and personal issues

- In rare situations coaches unnecessarily "ruff up" their players

• The qualities of sports are aggressive, strong, and daring; all the qualities of the stereotypical male.
• To be successful in a sport as a male is seen as manly, while to be a successful female athlete is not seen as girly or woman-like.
• The belief that women aren't capable of what men are in sports have held women back for centuries.
• Women weren't allowed to compete in the first Olympics in 1896, but were also to participate in tennis and golf in the second Olympics.
• Women get less scholarships in sports that males also participate in.
• Women sporting events get very little coverage on television even compared to less prominent male sports.

- College and professional sports continue to provide unequal funding for women.

- In 2009, the average salary for basketball player was $5.84 million. An average baseball player made $3.26 million. A hockey player, $2.4 million. Football players made an average of $770,000,

- Players salary far exceeds the salary of any coach

• In United States universities athletes and coaches get "special treatment." For example, punishments are less severe, if there even is one.
• This trend has even begun to bleed into high school sports.
• Schools believe these athletes bring in large sums of money with games and funding that they become too valuable to punishment them harshly or give them bad press.
• These athletes then feel they can act out with no repercussions.
• With the public being so absorbed in sports it gives athletes and coaches tons of power to influence the public and become essentially "above the law."

• Racial abuse from fans
• Michael Jordan is the only black majority owner in the four major professional sports.
• On average white coaches receive higher salaries compared to the salary of African Americans

• The Rooney Rule was created in 2003 and named after Dan Rooney, who is the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chairman of the league's diversity committee.
• The Rooney Rule requires "NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs."
• This rule was established to make sure that every applicant had equal opportunity for jobs.
• The Rooney Rule is one of the many steps taken to improve the inequality situation in sports.
• European sports having been working on creating fairness with discrimination in sports also.

Social Inequality in Sports

Rooney Rule

Inequalities for Minorities

Sociological Theory

Sports sociology is studied in many different perspectives. Sociologists look at amateur vs. professional; man vs. women; players vs. spectator; etc. In 1970 sports sociology became an official field of study. Today sociologists side with one of the four perspectives--structural functionalism, conflict theory, critical theory, and symbolic interactionism--that relates sports to society.

Chaz's Reaction

Inequality in Pay

While doing the research I realized how big of an issue social inequality in sports is and how it can affect us from day to day. I learned the extreme amount of money athletes make and how it compares to the amount of money coaches and female athletes make. I also realized how much power coaches actually have and how easily they could abuse such privileges and powers. Today's society is trying to eliminate such behavior, but will face an uphill battle against such inequality because of the human nature trying to have unfair advantage over others.

The Power of Sports

Emily's Reaction

After researching this topic I was very surprised on the amount of inequalities in sports. Throughout my experience in sports I have never truly felt that I was treated unfairly, but merely dealt with the typical "girls can't do what boys can." Many girls however have been denied the right to participating in sports and sports events. I hope that more will be done to fix the inequalities present in sports.

Conclusion

Inequality of the Genders

In conclusion, there are many issues in sports today that create inequalities for players. Some of these inequalities are with head coaches, minorities, gender, payment, power, and the Rooney Rule. Each of these inequalities are being handled in by creating new rules, but overall not much change has been made.

Introduction

Works Cited

Inequality of Coaches

Social inequality in sports refers to factors in sports that limit participants and coaches in their certain sport.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Rule
• http://ec.europa.eu/sport/documents/publications/tk3209201_en.pdf
• http://www.examiner.com/article/above-the-law-athletes-trouble
• http://women.ygoy.com/2012/10/30/gender-inequality-in-sports/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_sport
• http://www.prosebeforehos.com/sports-editor/03/08/what-do-athletes-salaries-say-about-american-values/
• http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/research/articles-and-reports/equity-issues/pay-inequity
• http://convosofcolor.com/2012/01/23/playing-with-fire-race-and-sport-in-american-culture/

In our presentation we will discuss the social inequalities in sports of gender, minorities, head coaches, pay of players and coaches, the Rooney Rule, and the power of sports.

By the time we are complete you will be informed on some of the social inequalities in sports, and be able to form your own opinion on social issues that some up in sports.

By: Emily Moore & Charles Kieffer III