Sports day

Last updated October 27, 2024

Sports days (British English & Canadian English), field days (American English), or play days (Canadian English) are events staged by many schools and offices in which people participate in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of winning trophies or prizes. Though they are often held at the beginning of summer, they are also staged in the autumn or spring seasons, especially in countries where the summer is very harsh. Schools stage many sports days in which children participate in the sporting events. It is usually held in elementary schools.

Games that are played on school sports days can be wide and varied. They can include straightforward sprints and longer races for all age groups as well as egg and spoon races. Three-legged races are run as well as sack races, wheelbarrow races, and parent and child races. Long jumps and high jumps are also held. Additional games are traditionally run in Ireland, and the UK, such as horseshoes.

Global

India

In India, sports days are held for 2–3 days. These include games like football, cricket, throw ball, dodge ball, volleyball, track and field, basketball etc. These sports days are held between the various houses in a particular school. In India, many traditional games such as kho-kho, kabaddi and march-past are played.

Japan

Undokai (2005) Undoukai.jpg — Undokai (2005)

Sports day, called undōkai (運動会) in Japanese, is usually held on a Saturday or Sunday in Japanese schools. During weeks preceding the sports day, students practice their events which they would like to show their parents and friends, within their class of physical education, which often includes tamaire , performances by the school band and presentations by various school clubs as well as individual and group competitive events. These practices, and the sports days themselves, normally take place on the schools' fields, which provide little relief from the heat and sun.^{[ citation needed ]}

Some schools have responded by scheduling their sports days during cooler months and by encouraging their students to drink water regularly. Currently, the event occurs most often in the autumn (September/October), or in the spring (May/June). In elementary schools in Hokkaidō, the event is usually held between the later part of May and the earlier part of June.^[1]

Pakistan

Sport is a significant part of Pakistani culture. Cricket is the most popular sport, while field hockey, polo, and squash are also popular.^[2] Many well funded private and government schools hold a Sports Day, when track and field events like running, relay races, high jump, long jump, discus and shot-put are held. These sports are generally played in front of an audience of parents who witness the Sports day events. If the children are divided by house in the school's system, then the various houses also compete against each other for enough points and medals to win that Sports day's events.

Traditional sports like kabaddi and other well-known games are also played. The Pakistan Sports Board was created in 1962 by the Ministry of Education as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition in sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing internationally, and regulating and controlling sports in Pakistan on a national basis. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, now has control over the Pakistan Sports Board. The PSB controls all 39 sporting federations. The Pakistan Sports Board is supported by the Pakistan Sports Trust, which assists hard up players and associations so they can continue participating in sports.

Over recent years there has been an increase in sporting activity in Pakistan, with Pakistani sportsmen and women participating at many national and international events. Also, more international tournaments now take place in Pakistan. The size of the teams Pakistan sends, and the number of events they participate in, such as the Olympic Games, Asian Games, World Games, and Commonwealth Games has increased since the turn of the century.

Russia

Sports Day in Russia is held on the second Saturday in August.

Qatar

Sports day is a national holiday, held every second-Tuesday of February every year.^[3] The Olympic Committee is tasked with organizing the large-scale nationwide activities that are held all over Qatar, and include a wide variety of sports such as; football, basketball, tennis, marathons, open walks, as well as regional sports such as camel riding. Other venues of sports day include Aspire Zone, Katara, The Pearl, among others. Sports day's popularity extends to the point that Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Qatar's Emir is casually seen participating in events.

In offices

Many large organizations have sports days for their employees. One notable example is His Majesty's Civil Service in the UK, which holds a number of departmental sports days.

Controversies

There have been a number of controversies surrounding school sports days in recent years, many of which have been publicised by the media.

Some schools have abolished or heavily altered sports days on the grounds that they are too competitive and may damage pupils' self-esteem, with some commentators calling for the event to be banned due to the public humiliation caused to those children who are not gifted athletically.^[4] This view has been condemned as "political correctness" by many commentators, notably by journalist Melanie Phillips in her 1996 book All Must Have Prizes, a book heavily criticised by reviewers for its alleged prejudiced, fact-less and distorted analyses.^[5]

In June 2005, Country Life magazine published a report claiming that school sports days have become excessively competitive due to overbearing and "over-zealous" parents, who place too much pressure on their children to succeed. The report also revealed that many schools have banned "mothers and fathers" races due to fighting and cheating.

Since the mid-1990s, a number of schools and education authorities have banned photography and filming with video cameras at sports days and other school events. Some authorities cite general privacy issues as justification for the ban. Others have raised concerns about pedophiles, which in turn has sparked accusations of hysteria and moral panic. Many parents have expressed anger at being unable to take photographs or videos as souvenirs of these events, and the ban has been criticised by some as a paranoid over-reaction to public concerns about pedophilia and child safety issues.

Related Research Articles

Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offense, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.

Camel racing is a racing sport in which jockeys riding on camels compete against each other to finish a set number of laps around a circular racetrack. It is most popular in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourism. Camels can run at speeds up to 65 km/h in short sprints and they can maintain a speed of 40 km/h for an hour. Camels are often controlled by child jockeys, but allegations of human rights abuses have led to nationwide bans on underage labor in the UAE and Qatar. In modern camel racing, camels are often controlled by remote controlled robotic whips.

The history of sports extends back to the Ancient world in 7000 BC. The physical activity that developed into sports had early links with warfare and entertainment.

Tag is a playground game involving one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" and mark them out of play, typically by touching with a hand. There are many variations; most forms have no teams, scores, or equipment. Usually when a person is tagged, the tagger says, "It!" or "Tag, you're 'It'!" The last one tagged during tag is "It" for the next round. The game is known by other names in various parts of the world, including "running and catching" in India and "catch and cook" in the Middle East.

Kho kho is a traditional South Asian sport that dates to ancient India. It is the second-most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connecting two poles which are at either end of the court. During the game, nine players from the chasing team are on the field, with eight of them sitting (crouched) in the central lane, while three runners from the defending team run around the court and try to avoid being touched. Each sitting player on the chasing team faces the opposite half of the field that their adjacent teammates are facing.

The culture of Bangladesh is intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It has evolved over the centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of several social groups of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance of the 18th early 19th centuries, noted Bengali writers, saints, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composers, painters, film-makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali culture. The culture of Bangladesh is deeply intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region. Basically, Bengali culture refers to the culture of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent political Indian nationalism which was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic cultural expression.

Qila Raipur Sports Festival, popularly known as the Rural Olympics, is held annually in Qila Raipur, in Punjab, India. Competitions are held for major Punjabi rural sports, include cart-race, athletic events and rope pulling.

Association football and basketball are the most popular sports in Asia. Cricket is the third most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport</span> Forms of competitive activity, usually physical

Sport is a form of physical activity or game. Often competitive and organized, sports use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills. They also provide enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Many sports exist, with different participant numbers, some are done by a single person with others being done by hundreds. Most sports take place either in teams or competing as individuals. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabaddi in India</span> Contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent

Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among people in villages. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all of them. Four forms of kabaddi played in India are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo, and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab, Haryana, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world, mostly by Punjabi sportsmen. Suranjeevi is the most played form of kabaddi in India and the world. This is the form used in international matches generally and played in Asian Games. Huttuttoo was played by men in Maharashtra. In Gaminee style, seven players play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in outing all the players of the opponent's side secures a point. The game continues until five or seven such points are secured and has no fixed time duration.

The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati on 5 February 2016. India continued its dominance in the game's medal tally with a staggering 308 medals including 188 gold medals.

The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was held from 1–10 December 2019, coincidentally at the same time as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. The new dates were confirmed at the South Asian Olympic Council Executive Board meeting in Bangkok on 1 March 2019. The Dasarath Stadium hosted the opening ceremony along with the men's football tournament, with the stadium's renovation after the 2015 earthquake completed in under 10 months with an increased capacity of 20,000, along with the closing ceremony on 10 December.

Sports retain a very valuable position in the culture of Gujarat. Some of the popular sports played in Gujarat are cricket, kho-kho, badminton, football, kabaddi and table tennis. The Sports Authority of Gujarat presides and supervises the sporting activities under the Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department. There have been many successful and popular initiatives undertaken by the authority to encourage the sports culture in Gujarat, Khel Mahakumbh' being an example. Gujarat has various levels of sports competitions including events of both larger and smaller levels.

Bengali traditional games are traditional games that are played in rural parts of the historical region of Bengal. These games are typically played outside with limited resources. Many games have similarities to other traditional South Asian games.

India has several traditional games and sports, some of which have been played for thousands of years. Their popularity has greatly declined in the modern era, with Western sports having overtaken them during the British Raj, and the Indian government now making some efforts to revive them. Many of these games do not require much equipment or playing space. Some of them are only played in certain regions of India, or may be known by different names and played under different rules and regulations in different regions of the country. Many Indian games are also similar to other traditional South Asian games.

Pakistan has many traditional games played in the rural and urban areas of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional games of South Asia</span>

South Asia has many traditional games and sports. Two of them, kabaddi and kho-kho, are played at the South Asian Games, with kabaddi also featuring at the Asian Games. Many of these games are played across the entire subcontinent under different names and with some rule variations, while some of these games may be played only in certain countries or regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in South Asia</span>

Many sports are played in South Asia, with cricket being the most popular of them; 90% of the sport's worldwide fans live in South Asia. Football is followed passionately in some parts of South Asia, such as Kerala and Bengal. Field hockey was popular for several decades, with some of South Asia's greatest sporting accomplishments having taken place in this sport. Some native South Asian games are played professionally in the region, such as kabaddi and kho-kho, and also feature in regional competitions such as the South Asian Games and Asian Games.

References

↑ Fukue, Natsuko, "No escaping annual sports days", Japan Times , 19 October 2010, p. 3. Archived 2016-04-11 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Abbott, David (January 1, 2015) [1st pub. 2010]. "Chapter 3: Social Changes". In McCann, Jacqueline (ed.). Changing World – Pakistan. Encyclopædia Britannica. pp. 100–110. ISBN 978-1-62513-365-6.
↑ "اليوم الرياضي الوطني - Qatar Sports for all Federation". Sports for all Federation (in Arabic). Retrieved 2016-02-08.
↑ Witchalls, Clint (14 July 2004). "Why I want to ban sports day". The Guardian.
↑ "All Must Have Prizes By Melanie Phillips Little, Brown pounds 17.50" . Independent.co.uk . 13 September 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24.

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[1] Fukue, Natsuko, "No escaping annual sports days", Japan Times , 19 October 2010, p. 3. Archived 2016-04-11 at the Wayback Machine

[2] Abbott, David (January 1, 2015) [1st pub. 2010]. "Chapter 3: Social Changes". In McCann, Jacqueline (ed.). Changing World – Pakistan. Encyclopædia Britannica. pp. 100–110. ISBN 978-1-62513-365-6.

[3] "اليوم الرياضي الوطني - Qatar Sports for all Federation". Sports for all Federation (in Arabic). Retrieved 2016-02-08.

[4] Witchalls, Clint (14 July 2004). "Why I want to ban sports day". The Guardian.

[5] "All Must Have Prizes By Melanie Phillips Little, Brown pounds 17.50" . Independent.co.uk . 13 September 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24.

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