Overseas sport is a unique opportunity that can provide many benefits for athletes. From access to higher levels of competition and cultural exchange, to gaining valuable life skills.
Sports diplomacy is a form of international relations that uses sport to promote and enhance diplomatic ties between countries. It involves a wide range of stakeholders, including states, governments, national/international sporting associations and athletes.
Access to Higher Levels of Competition
The opportunity to play sports abroad offers athletes the chance to test themselves against world-class competition and take their game to a new level. Athletes can also gain valuable life skills, such as independence, resilience, and adaptability, which will help them in their sporting careers and beyond.
The concept of elite sport has evolved into a global ‘sporting arms race’, with public investment being the key driver of success (De Bosscher et al. 2008a, 2021). This positioning has been accompanied by the use of the medal tally as a benchmark for national agencies and researchers.
Research has shown that, in general, people who compete experience a positive mental response in comparison to non-competitors, regardless of the nature of their competitive environment. Furthermore, even people grouped as having lower competitive traits and those classified as non-varsity athletes showed similar results when competing against higher ranked groups. This suggests that competition is a powerful stimulus for athletes in any context.
Exposure to Different Styles of Play
For athletes who are serious about taking their sport to the next level, pursuing opportunities overseas is an ideal way to challenge themselves physically and to grow as a player. For example, if you are interested in field hockey, playing abroad can expose you to a completely different style of play that will push you to new limits as a player.
The opportunity to earn a living from their sport and secure a financial future is also a significant driver for many athletes who pursue opportunities overseas. However, the Hartford Courant article “American players playing professional basketball overseas fear economic fallout of coronavirus” points out that there are a lot of risks involved in this career choice.
In addition to providing access to higher levels of competition and a chance to explore cultures, sports diplomacy brings people together by fostering people-to-people experiences that transcend borders, cultures, and national differences. It can be a powerful tool in international relations and is used by a number of countries to promote peace, development, and cooperation.
Cultural Exchange
Athletes often pursue opportunities abroad to hone their professional skills and secure financial stability. However, the opportunity to learn about a new culture is also an important motivation. It allows athletes to gain a deeper understanding of how different people live and work, which may help them develop more empathy for others.
Sports offer a platform to promote cultural exchange by uniting communities around a shared passion for physical pursuits. Shared excitement and joy for success or disappointment in defeat transcends cultural, religious, and national differences.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA) Sports Diplomacy Division works globally to leverage the power of sport for peace through a variety of high-impact programs that include international competitions, community engagements, and people-to-people exchanges. One example is the Sports Envoy Program, which brings American elite athletes to underserved countries for short-term (7-10 day) sports exchanges that are designed to advance embassy and consulate foreign policy goals. These exchanges include sports clinics, speaking engagements, and workshops.
Life Skills
Taking your sports interest overseas can help you expand your network, earn scholarships and have a greater sense of purpose and meaning. This is especially true when your passion for sport can also be used to support the goals of a wider community. There are more benefits at 해외스포츠중계!
Sport can also teach life skills, specifically the skills of teamwork. Being part of a sports team encourages athletes to focus on the good of the whole versus the individual, which is a critical component to building selflessness and emotional intelligence.
This type of teaching is a key aspect of the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) approach. However, research on SDP programmes is limited and focuses on conditions that enable social change through the use of sport. Further work is needed to identify and articulate the specific sport mechanisms that can contribute to social change, such as that undertaken in the ‘Seedbeds of Peace’ programme. Clearly, the development of these life skills requires more intentional strategies from coaches than is currently being employed.