benefits of sports facilities essay

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Benefits of Sports Facilities to Communities

Sports are not all about winning games. Building healthier, happier, safer, and strong communities are also essential elements. Communities that get a chance to participate in sports also develop strong social bonds. As a result, many non-profit sports organizations have ventured into helping society through sports. The non-profit groups seek financial assistance from donors and sponsors and invest the funds in sports projects. Building sports facilities is among the projects that require a lot of funds. But how do these facilities help the community? Well, this post will help you understand the importance of sports facilities.

Healthy Communities

Reducing stress.

The benefits of exercises are extended to the way people think and their mental states. Stress affects communities at large, but people engaging in exercising activities are resilient to stress. Sports and recreational activities have positive impacts on happiness.

Access to Free Wi-Fi

The community can benefit from Wi-Fi installed in sports facilities. They can use the free internet to access gaming apps. Canadian gamblers are lucky as they can access many casinos. However, one should be cautious and careful when signing up with casinos to evade rogue sites. Going through reviews can help to identify a genuine casino. For instance, Caxino Casino Review will help you understand if it is legit. Besides, you can inquire from other gamblers to find a reliable gambling site.

Family Gains

With free facilities to exercise, families can play together. According to research, a family that plays together stays together. Thus, the facilities sponsored by non-profit organizations help to improve family ties. Furthermore, the facilities provide ample places where families can have time together.

Essay on Importance of Sports for Students and Children

500+ words essay on importance of sports.

First of all, Sport refers to an activity involving physical activity and skill . Here, two or more parties compete against each other. Sports are an integral part of human life and there is great importance of sports in all spheres of life. Furthermore, Sports help build the character and personality of a person. It certainly is an excellent tool to keep the body physically fit. Most noteworthy, the benefits of Sports are so many that books can be written.  Sports have a massive positive effect on both the mind and body.

Physical Benefits of Sports

First of all, Sports strengthen the heart. Regular Sports certainly make the heart stronger. Hence, Sport is an excellent preventive measure against heart diseases . This certainly increases the life expectancy of individuals. Furthermore, a healthy heart means a healthy blood pressure.

Sports involve physical activity of the body. Due to this physical activity, blood vessels remain clean. Sports reduces the amount of cholesterol and fats in the body. This happens because of the increase of flexibility of the wall of the blood vessels. The flexibility increases due to physical exertion, which is the result of Sports.

Furthermore, the sugar level in blood also gets lower thanks to Sports. The sugar certainly does not accumulate in the blood due to physical activity.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

A person experiences a good quality of breathing because of Sports. Sports strengthen the lungs of the body. Sports certainly escalate the lung capacity and efficiency of the body. Hence, more oxygen enters the blood which is extremely beneficial. Furthermore, there are fewer chances of developing lung diseases due to Sports.

Appropriate body weight is easy to maintain because of sports. A Sports playing person probably does not suffer from obesity or underweight problems. Sports certainly help the body remain fit and slim.

Furthermore, Sports also improves the quality of bones. A person who plays sports will have strong bones even in old age. Several scientific research reports that Sports prevent many diseases. For example, many researchers conclude that Sports prevent the development of cancer.

Other Benefits of Sports

Sport is certainly an excellent tool to build self-confidence . Playing Sports increases confidence to talk properly. A sport certainly improves the skills of communicating with others. Furthermore, the person experiences confidence in sitting, standing, and walking properly. Hence, Sports enriches the social life of an individual.

Sports bring discipline in life. It certainly teaches the values of dedication and patience. Sports also teach people how to handle failure. Furthermore, the importance of following a time schedule is also present in Sports.

Above all, Sports improves the thinking ability of individuals. Sports certainly sharpen the mind. Children who play Sports probably perform better at exams than those who don’t.

Finally, Sports reduces the stress of mind . A Sports playing person would certainly experience less depression. Sports ensure the peace of mind of those playing it. Most noteworthy, Sports brings happiness and joy in the life of individuals.

A sport is an aspect of human life that is of paramount importance. It certainly increases the quality of human life. Sports must be made mandatory in schools. This is because it is as important as education. Everyone must perform at least one Sport activity on a regular basis.

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Sports, Jobs, & Taxes: Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?

Subscribe to the economic studies bulletin, andrew zimbalist and az andrew zimbalist roger g. noll rgn roger g. noll.

June 1, 1997

• 17 min read

To find out more, see Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist’s edited book, Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums .

America is in the midst of a sports construction boom. New sports facilities costing at least $200 million each have been completed or are under way in Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Nashville, San Francisco, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington, D.C., and are in the planning stages in Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, and Pittsburgh. Major stadium renovations have been undertaken in Jacksonville and Oakland. Industry experts estimate that more than $7 billion will be spent on new facilities for professional sports teams before 2006.

Most of this $7 billion will come from public sources. The subsidy starts with the federal government, which allows state and local governments to issue tax-exempt bonds to help finance sports facilities. Tax exemption lowers interest on debt and so reduces the amount that cities and teams must pay for a stadium. Since 1975, the interest rate reduction has varied between 2.4 and 4.5 percentage points. Assuming a differential of 3 percentage points, the discounted present value loss in federal taxes for a $225 million stadium is about $70 million, or more than $2 million a year over a useful life of 30 years. Ten facilities built in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Superdome in New Orleans, the Silverdome in Pontiac, the now-obsolete Kingdome in Seattle, and Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands, each cause an annual federal tax loss exceeding $1 million.

State and local governments pay even larger subsidies than Washington. Sports facilities now typically cost the host city more than $10 million a year. Perhaps the most successful new baseball stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, costs Maryland residents $14 million a year. Renovations aren’t cheap either: the net cost to local government for refurbishing the Oakland Coliseum for the Raiders was about $70 million.

Most large cities are willing to spend big to attract or keep a major league franchise. But a city need not be among the nation’s biggest to win a national competition for a team, as shown by the NBA’s Utah Jazz’s Delta Center in Salt Lake City and the NFL’s Houston Oilers’ new football stadium in Nashville.

Why Cities Subsidize Sports

The economic rationale for cities’ willingness to subsidize sports facilities is revealed in the campaign slogan for a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers: “Build the Stadium—Create the Jobs!” Proponents claim that sports facilities improve the local economy in four ways. First, building the facility creates construction jobs. Second, people who attend games or work for the team generate new spending in the community, expanding local employment. Third, a team attracts tourists and companies to the host city, further increasing local spending and jobs. Finally, all this new spending has a “multiplier effect” as increased local income causes still more new spending and job creation. Advocates argue that new stadiums spur so much economic growth that they are self-financing: subsidies are offset by revenues from ticket taxes, sales taxes on concessions and other spending outside the stadium, and property tax increases arising from the stadium’s economic impact.

Unfortunately, these arguments contain bad economic reasoning that leads to overstatement of the benefits of stadiums. Economic growth takes place when a community’s resources—people, capital investments, and natural resources like land—become more productive. Increased productivity can arise in two ways: from economically beneficial specialization by the community for the purpose of trading with other regions or from local value added that is higher than other uses of local workers, land, and investments. Building a stadium is good for the local economy only if a stadium is the most productive way to make capital investments and use its workers.

In our forthcoming Brookings book, Sports, Jobs, and Taxes, we and 15 collaborators examine the local economic development argument from all angles: case studies of the effect of specific facilities, as well as comparisons among cities and even neighborhoods that have and have not sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into sports development. In every case, the conclusions are the same. A new sports facility has an extremely small (perhaps even negative) effect on overall economic activity and employment. No recent facility appears to have earned anything approaching a reasonable return on investment. No recent facility has been self-financing in terms of its impact on net tax revenues. Regardless of whether the unit of analysis is a local neighborhood, a city, or an entire metropolitan area, the economic benefits of sports facilities are de minimus.

As noted, a stadium can spur economic growth if sports is a significant export industry—that is, if it attracts outsiders to buy the local product and if it results in the sale of certain rights (broadcasting, product licensing) to national firms. But, in reality, sports has little effect on regional net exports.

Sports facilities attract neither tourists nor new industry. Probably the most successful export facility is Oriole Park, where about a third of the crowd at every game comes from outside the Baltimore area. (Baltimore’s baseball exports are enhanced because it is 40 miles from the nation’s capital, which has no major league baseball team.) Even so, the net gain to Baltimore’s economy in terms of new jobs and incremental tax revenues is only about $3 million a year—not much of a return on a $200 million investment.

Sports teams do collect substantial revenues from national licensing and broadcasting, but these must be balanced against funds leaving the area. Most professional athletes do not live where they play, so their income is not spent locally. Moreover, players make inflated salaries for only a few years, so they have high savings, which they invest in national firms. Finally, though a new stadium increases attendance, ticket revenues are shared in both baseball and football, so that part of the revenue gain goes to other cities. On balance, these factors are largely offsetting, leaving little or no net local export gain to a community.

One promotional study estimated that the local annual economic impact of the Denver Broncos was nearly $120 million; another estimated that the combined annual economic benefit of Cincinnati’s Bengals and Reds was $245 million. Such promotional studies overstate the economic impact of a facility because they confuse gross and net economic effects. Most spending inside a stadium is a substitute for other local recreational spending, such as movies and restaurants. Similarly, most tax collections inside a stadium are substitutes: as other entertainment businesses decline, tax collections from them fall.

Promotional studies also fail to take into account differences between sports and other industries in income distribution. Most sports revenue goes to a relatively few players, managers, coaches, and executives who earn extremely high salaries—all well above the earnings of people who work in the industries that are substitutes for sports. Most stadium employees work part time at very low wages and earn a small fraction of team revenues. Thus, substituting spending on sports for other recreational spending concentrates income, reduces the total number of jobs, and replaces full-time jobs with low-wage, part-time jobs.

A second rationale for subsidized stadiums is that stadiums generate more local consumer satisfaction than alternative investments. There is some truth to this argument. Professional sports teams are very small businesses, comparable to large department or grocery stores. They capture public attention far out of proportion to their economic significance. Broadcast and print media give so much attention to sports because so many people are fans, even if they do not actually attend games or buy sports-related products.

A professional sports team, therefore, creates a “public good” or “externality”—a benefit enjoyed by consumers who follow sports regardless of whether they help pay for it. The magnitude of this benefit is unknown, and is not shared by everyone; nevertheless, it exists. As a result, sports fans are likely to accept higher taxes or reduced public services to attract or keep a team, even if they do not attend games themselves. These fans, supplemented and mobilized by teams, local media, and local interests that benefit directly from a stadium, constitute the base of political support for subsidized sports facilities.

The Role of Monopoly Leagues

While sports subsidies might ow from externalities, their primary cause is the monopolistic structure of sports. Leagues maximize their members’ profits by keeping the number of franchises below the number of cities that could support a team. To attract teams, cities must compete through a bidding war, whereby each bids its willingness to pay to have a team, not the amount necessary to make a team viable.

Monopoly leagues convert fans’ (hence cities’) willingness to pay for a team into an opportunity for teams to extract revenues. Teams are not required to take advantage of this opportunity, and in two cases—the Charlotte Panthers and, to a lesser extent, the San Francisco Giants—the financial exposure of the city has been the relatively modest costs of site acquisition and infrastructural investments. But in most cases, local and state governments have paid over $100 million in stadium subsidy, and in some cases have financed the entire enterprise.

The tendency of sports teams to seek new homes has been intensified by new stadium technology. The rather ordinary cookie-cutter, multipurpose facility of the 1960s and 1970s has given way to the elaborate, single-sport facility that features numerous new revenue opportunities: luxury suites, club boxes, elaborate concessions, catering, signage, advertising, theme activities, and even bars, restaurants, and apartments with a view of the field. A new facility now can add $30 million annually to a team’s revenues for a few years after the stadium opens.

Because new stadiums produce substantially more revenues, more cities are now economically viable franchise sites—which explains why Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Nashville have become NFL cities. As more localities bid for teams, cities are forced to offer ever larger subsidies.

What Can Be Done?

Abuses from exorbitant stadium packages, sweetheart leases, and footloose franchises have left many citizens and politicians crying foul. What remedy, if any, is available to curb escalating subsidies and to protect the emotional and financial investments of fans and cities?

In principle, cities could bargain as a group with sports leagues, thereby counterbalancing the leagues’ monopoly power. In practice, this strategy is unlikely to work. Efforts by cities to form a sports-host association have failed. The temptation to cheat by secretly negotiating with a mobile team is too strong to preserve concerted behavior.

Another strategy is to insert provisions in a facility lease that deter team relocation. Many cities have tried this approach, but most leases have escape clauses that allow the team to move if attendance falls too low or if the facility is not in state-of-the-art condition. Other teams have provisions requiring them to pay tens of millions of dollars if they vacate a facility prior to lease expiration, but these provisions also come with qualifying covenants. Of course, all clubs legally must carry out the terms of their lease, but with or without these safeguard provisions, teams generally have not viewed their lease terms as binding. Rather, teams claim that breach of contract by the city or stadium authority releases them from their obligations. Almost always these provisions do not prevent a team from moving.

Some leases grant the city a right of first refusal to buy the team or to designate who will buy it before the team is relocated. The big problem here is the price. Owners usually want to move a team because it is worth more elsewhere, either because another city is building a new facility with strong revenue potential or because another city is a better sports market. If the team is worth, say, $30 million more if it moves, what price must the team accept from local buyers? If it is the market price (its value in the best location), an investor in the home city would be foolish to pay $30 million more for the franchise than it is worth there. If the price is the value of the franchise in its present home, the old owner is deprived of his property rights if he cannot sell to the highest bidder. In practice, these provisions typically specify a right of first refusal at market price, which does not protect against losing a team.

Cities trying to hold on to a franchise can also invoke eminent domain, as did Oakland when the Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982 and Baltimore when the Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984. In the Oakland case, the California Court of Appeals ruled that condemning a football franchise violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. In the Colts case, the condemnation was upheld by the Maryland Circuit Court, but the U.S. District Court ruled that Maryland lacked jurisdiction because the team had left the state by the time the condemnation was declared. Eminent domain, even if constitutionally feasible, is not a promising vehicle for cities to retain sports teams.

Ending Federal Subsidies

Whatever the costs and benefits to a city of attracting a professional sports team, there is no rationale whatsoever for the federal government to subsidize the financial tug-of-war among the cities to host teams.

In 1986, Congress apparently became convinced of the irrationality of granting tax exemptions for interest on municipal bonds that financed projects primarily benefiting private interests. The 1986 Tax Reform Act denies federal subsidies for sports facilities if more than 10 percent of the debt service is covered by revenues from the stadium. If Congress intended that this would reduce sports subsidies, it was sadly mistaken. If anything, the 1986 law increased local subsidies by cutting rents below 10 percent of debt service.

Last year Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), concerned about the prospect of a tax exemption for a debt of up to $1 billion for a new stadium in New York, introduced a bill to eliminate tax-exempt financing for professional sports facilities and thus eliminate federal subsidies of stadiums. The theory behind the bill is that raising a city’s cost from a stadium giveaway would reduce the subsidy. Although cities might respond this way, they would still compete among each other for scarce franchises, so to some extent the likely effect of the bill is to pass higher interest charges on to cities, not teams.

Antitrust and Regulation

Congress has considered several proposals to regulate team movement and league expansion. The first came in the early 1970s, when the Washington Senators left for Texas. Unhappy baseball fans on Capitol Hill commissioned an inquiry into professional sports. The ensuing report recommended removing baseball’s antitrust immunity, but no legislative action followed. Another round of ineffectual inquiry came in 1984-85, following the relocations of the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Colts. Major league baseball’s efforts in 1992 to thwart the San Francisco Giants’ move to St. Petersburg again drew proposals to withdraw baseball’s cherished antitrust exemption. As before, nothing came of the congressional interest. In 1995-96, inspired by the departure of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, Representative Louis Stokes from Cleveland and Senator John Glenn of Ohio introduced a bill to grant the NFL an antitrust exemption for franchise relocation. This bill, too, never came to a vote.

The relevance of antitrust to the problem of stadium subsidies is indirect but important. Private antitrust actions have significantly limited the ability of leagues to prevent teams from relocating. Teams relocate to improve their financial performance, which in turn improves their ability to compete with other teams for players and coaches. Hence, a team has an incentive to prevent competitors from relocating. Consequently, courts have ruled that leagues must have “reasonable” relocation rules that preclude anticompetitive denial of relocation. Baseball, because it enjoys an antitrust exemption, is freer to limit team movements than the other sports.

Relocation rules can affect competition for teams because, by making relocation more difficult, they can limit the number of teams (usually to one) that a city is allowed to bid for. In addition, competition among cities for teams is further intensified because leagues create scarcity in the number of teams. Legal and legislative actions that change relocation rules affect which cities get existing teams and how much they pay for them, but do not directly affect the disparity between the number of cities that are viable locations for a team and the number of teams. Thus, expansion policy raises a different but important antitrust issue.

As witnessed by the nearly simultaneous consideration of creating an antitrust exemption for football but denying one for baseball on precisely the same issue of franchise relocation, congressional initiatives have been plagued by geographical chauvinism and myopia. Except for representatives of the region affected, members of Congress have proven reluctant to risk the ire of sports leagues. Even legislation that is not hampered by blatant regional self-interest, such as the 1986 Tax Reform Act, typically is sufficiently riddled with loopholes to make effective implementation improbable. While arguably net global welfare is higher when a team relocates to a better market, public policy should focus on balancing the supply and demand for sports franchises so that all economically viable cities can have a team. Congress could mandate league expansion, but that is probably impossible politically. Even if such legislation were passed, deciding which city deserves a team is an administrative nightmare.

A better approach would be to use antitrust to break up existing leagues into competing business entities. The entities could collaborate on playing rules and interleague and postseason play, but they would not be able to divvy up metropolitan areas, establish common drafts or player market restrictions, or collude on broadcasting and licensing policy. Under these circumstances no league would be likely to vacate an economically viable city, and, if one did, a competing league would probably jump in. Other consumer-friendly consequences would ow from such an arrangement. Competition would force ineffective owners to sell or go belly up in their struggle with better managed teams. Taxpayers would pay lower local, state, and federal subsidies. Teams would have lower revenues, but because most of the costs of a team are driven by revenues, most teams would remain solvent. Player salaries and team profits would fall, but the number of teams and player jobs would rise.

Like Congress, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is subject to political pressures not to upset sports. So sports leagues remain unregulated monopolies with de facto immunity from federal antitrust prosecution. Others launch and win antitrust complaints against sports leagues, but usually their aim is membership in the cartel, not divestiture, so the problem of too few teams remains unsolved.

Citizen Action

The final potential source of reform is grassroots disgruntlement that leads to a political reaction against sports subsidies. Stadium politics has proven to be quite controversial in some cities. Some citizens apparently know that teams do little for the local economy and are concerned about using regressive sales taxes and lottery revenues to subsidize wealthy players, owners, and executives. Voters rejected public support for stadiums on ballot initiatives in Milwaukee, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, although no team has failed to obtain a new stadium. Still, more guarded, conditional support from constituents can cause political leaders to be more careful in negotiating a stadium deal. Initiatives that place more of the financial burden on facility users—via revenues from luxury or club boxes, personal seat licenses (PSLs), naming rights, and ticket taxes—are likely to be more popular.

Unfortunately, citizen resistance notwithstanding, most stadiums probably cannot be financed primarily from private sources. In the first place, the use of money from PSLs, naming rights, pouring rights, and other private sources is a matter to be negotiated among teams, cities, and leagues. The charges imposed by the NFL on the Raiders and Rams when they moved to Oakland and St. Louis, respectively, were an attempt by the league to capture some of this (unshared) revenue, rather than have it pay for the stadium.

Second, revenue from private sources is not likely to be enough to avoid large public subsidies. In the best circumstance, like the NFL’s Charlotte Panthers, local governments still pay for investments in supporting infrastructure, and Washington still pays an interest subsidy for the local government share. And the Charlotte case is unique. No other stadium project has raised as much private revenue. At the other extreme is the disaster in Oakland, where a supposedly break-even financial plan left the community $70 million in the hole because of cost overruns and disappointing PSL sales.

Third, despite greater citizen awareness, voters still must cope with a scarcity of teams. Fans may realize that subsidized stadiums regressively redistribute income and do not promote growth, but they want local teams. Alas, it is usually better to pay a monopoly an exorbitant price than to give up its product.

Prospects for cutting sports subsidies are not good. While citizen opposition has had some success, without more effective intercity organizing or more active federal antitrust policy, cities will continue to compete against each other to attract or keep artificially scarce sports franchises. Given the profound penetration and popularity of sports in American culture, it is hard to see an end to rising public subsidies of sports facilities.

For more information on sports economics, see Andrew Zimbalist’s 2015 book Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup .

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11 Benefits of a Community Recreation Center

• Posted by jumpsix2
• on July 15, 2016
• at 10:50 am

Ready to make an impact in your community?

Download the guide, to great recreation in your city, the sports facilities companies knows that these potential community benefits readily come with a recreation center..

Community recreation centers hold the key to a number of benefits that enhance the quality of life in your community. Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, or socioeconomic status, there are valuable programs at your local rec center for little to no cost. Whether it’s fitness classes, afterschool programs, or job training, there’s a little something for everyone. However, to realize the great value of a community recreation center, a great investment must be made. An investment of time, human, and financial resources. With many pressing needs faced by city leaders throughout the United States, it can be hard to make parks and recreation departments a priority. However, the benefits of doing so are far-reaching.

At the Sports Facilities Companies , we’ve seen the power of a strong recreation center many times over and provide recreation master planning services to arm communities with the necessary resources to achieve immeasurable success.

Below are 11 key benefits of a community recreation center that we believe you can realize with time, proper planning, and efficient execution.

Stay Healthy Longer

Community  recreation centers  offer many programs that benefit both the body and mind. Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly have lower blood pressure, delayed onset of diabetes, lower heart disease rates, and overall increased longevity. Exercise also helps increase white blood cells and aids in strengthening your immune system.

The health benefits of recreation centers extend to children as well. According to the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA), children who live close to multiple recreation centers were more physically active and less likely to be obese than children that did not have access to recreation centers.

Reduce Stress

The benefits of sports complexes not only help the body, but they also create a less-stressed mind. Stress greatly affects the community at large, and studies conducted in both the United States and Australia have found that people who participate in recreational activities are more resilient to stress and experience better mental health.

Recreation has a positive impact on happiness as well. A study in the Journal of Happiness Studies examined the results of over 23 studies dating back to 1980. The studies included over 500,000 people and found that there were correlations between happiness and exercise.

Benefits to Families

Couples and families that play together tend to stay together. Family ties are improved by spending leisure time with each other. Recreation centers like the ones in Madison, WI, one of the nation’s best park systems , host family fun nights that provide activities including art projects and a bounce house.

Recreation centers also present opportunities for parents to model good health for their children. Research from the University of Cambridge indicates that for every minute of physical activity a mother engages in, her child is more likely to perform 10 percent more of that activity.

Reduce Crime Rates with Children

A critical benefit of community recreation centers is their impact on juvenile crime. According to a report by the NRPA, adolescences who don’t participate in afterschool activities are 27 percent more likely to be arrested. Drug use is 49 percent more likely among this group.

Recreation Centers Increase Property Value

Recreation centers as part of a park system are a driver of property value increases. According to a report by the University of Washington , homes within a quarter mile of a park are 10 percent more valuable on average. Recreation centers and parks are often viewed as a symbol of community pride and active recreation centers are chock full of activities that enhance the lives of those living around them.

Keep Your Employees Alert and Around

Employers can realize the power of recreation centers through their role in the health and wellness of employees. A great example of this can be found in Dallas , where their parks and recreation department provide programs such as weight training, yoga, and aerobics classes at a fraction of the cost of a standard gym.

Statistics show that engagement in these programs whether on a company or individual level can be an effective strategy for building a strong and productive workforce. A variety of studies have indicated that employees who exercise regularly used almost half as many absences as employees who did not engage in physical activity. Employees who had actively paid for membership for physical recreation are more alert on the job, faster learners, and perform better in their roles.

Cultural Diversity

We often discuss the “recreation” part of community recreation centers, but rarely emphasize the “community” part of the term. Participating in group activities can help increase cohesion among members of a community. Many community recreation centers have programs that highlight diversity and educate community members.

Boost Your Students’ Performance

Recreation center programs can be a critical part of increasing the likelihood of student achievement. A variety of studies indicate this, including ones done by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and The After-School Corporation , among others. After school programs can have positive impacts on classroom behavior, test scores, and reading and math achievement. After school programs have also been shown to enhance experiential learning.

Many sports complexes have included areas for after school childcare to keep kids out of an empty home while the parents are working. This time period, roughly between 3-6 pm, is a peak time for juvenile crime. According to a study by the YMCA of USA, teens who do not participate in after school programs are three times more likely to skip classes, experiment with drugs and alcohol, and be sexually active.

Additionally, recreation and sports facilities offer summer programs that can help further physical and mental growth in kids, which can benefit families tremendously.

Public Safety

Among the great of programs that offered at recreation centers throughout the country, ones that promote safety including CPR and first aid classes are among the most important. Many recreation centers offer swimming lessons for both children and adults at little cost along with classes on water safety. Additionally, recreation centers provide a meeting space for community members to discuss important issues such as crime prevention and disaster preparation.

Sports facilities, associated with larger recreation centers, can hold sports tournaments that can bring people from neighboring states. These visitors can help bring more revenue into a city a few times a year. Over time, sports tourism can drive revenue increases that have a tremendous impact on a community’s economy.

Throughout this article we’ve described a variety of benefits that can be realized with the presence of a recreation center in your community. However, these benefits can only be realized with a commitment from the community.

If you’re ready to tap into the power of community recreation centers, you’re ready to talk the SF Companies team. We have helped elevate over 2,000 communities around the country through the power sports and recreation facilities. To learn how,  contact us  today or call us at (727) 474-3845.

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Physical Activity and Sports—Real Health Benefits: A Review with Insight into the Public Health of Sweden

Christer malm.

1 Sports Medicine Unit, Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden; [email protected]

Johan Jakobsson

Andreas isaksson.

2 Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Solna, Sweden; [email protected]

Positive effects from sports are achieved primarily through physical activity, but secondary effects bring health benefits such as psychosocial and personal development and less alcohol consumption. Negative effects, such as the risk of failure, injuries, eating disorders, and burnout, are also apparent. Because physical activity is increasingly conducted in an organized manner, sport’s role in society has become increasingly important over the years, not only for the individual but also for public health. In this paper, we intend to describe sport’s physiological and psychosocial health benefits, stemming both from physical activity and from sport participation per se. This narrative review summarizes research and presents health-related data from Swedish authorities. It is discussed that our daily lives are becoming less physically active, while organized exercise and training increases. Average energy intake is increasing, creating an energy surplus, and thus, we are seeing an increasing number of people who are overweight, which is a strong contributor to health problems. Physical activity and exercise have significant positive effects in preventing or alleviating mental illness, including depressive symptoms and anxiety- or stress-related disease. In conclusion, sports can be evolving, if personal capacities, social situation, and biological and psychological maturation are taken into account. Evidence suggests a dose–response relationship such that being active, even to a modest level, is superior to being inactive or sedentary. Recommendations for healthy sports are summarized.

1. Introduction

Sport is a double-edged sword regarding effects on health. Positive effects are achieved primarily through physical activity, which is the main part of most sports. Many secondary effects of sport also bring health benefits, such as psychosocial development of both young [ 1 ] and old [ 2 ], personal development [ 3 ], later onset, and less consumption of alcohol [ 4 , 5 ]. Finally, those who play sports have a higher level of physical activity later in life [ 6 ], and through sport, knowledge of nutrition, exercise, and health can be developed [ 7 ]. Negative effects include the risk of failure leading to poor mental health [ 8 , 9 ], risk of injury [ 10 , 11 ], eating disorders [ 12 ], burnout [ 13 ], and exercise-induced gastrointestinal tract discomfort [ 14 ]. In sport, there are unfortunately also reports of physical and psychological abuse [ 15 ]. Negative aspects are more common in elite-level sports, where there is a fine balance between maximum performance and negative health. A somewhat unexpected effect of sport participation is that people submitting to planned training in some cases perform less physical activity compared to those who are exercising without a set schedule. One explanation can be a reduced spontaneous physical activity in the latter group [ 16 ]. Because physical activity is increasingly executed in an organized manner [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], sport’s role in society has become increasingly important over the years, not only for the individual but also for public health.

In this paper, we describe the health effects of sport from a physiological and psychological perspective, related both to physical activity and added values of sport per se. Initially, brief definitions of various concepts related to physical activity and health are given. This is then followed by: (1) A brief description of how physical activity and training affect our body from a physiological perspective; (2) a report on the health effects of physical activity and training; and (3) sport’s specific influences on the various dimensions of health. We chose to discuss the subject from an age-related perspective, separating children/adolescents, adults, and the elderly, as well as separating for sex in each age group.

2. Definitions of Physical Activity, Exercise, Training, Sport, and Health

Definitions and terms are based on “Physical activity in the prevention and treatment of disease” (FYSS, www.fyss.se [Swedish] [ 20 ]), World Health Organization (WHO) [ 21 ] and the US Department of Human Services [ 22 ]. The definition of physical activity in FYSS is: “Physical activity is defined purely physiologically, as all body movement that increases energy use beyond resting levels”. Health is defined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as: “[…] a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [ 21 ].

Physical activity can occur spontaneously (leisure/work/transport) or organized and be divided according to purpose: Physical exercise is aimed primarily at improving health and physical capacity. Physical training is aimed primarily at increasing the individual’s maximum physical capacity and performance [ 23 ]. Physical inactivity is described as the absence of body movement, when energy consumption approximates resting levels. People who do not meet recommendations for physical activity are considered physically inactive and are sometimes called “sedentary”. Sport can be organized by age, sex, level of ambition, weight or other groupings [ 24 ]. Sport can also be spontaneous [ 7 , 17 ] and defined as a subset of exercises undertaken individually or as a part of a team, where participants have a defined goal [ 7 ]. General recommendations for physical activity are found in Table 1 , not considering everyday activities. One can meet the daily recommendations for physical activity by brief, high-intensity exercise, and remaining physically inactive for the rest of the day, thereby creating a “polarization” of physical activity: Having a high dose of conscious physical training, despite having a low energy expenditure in normal life due to high volumes of sedentary time. Polarization of physical activity may lead to increased risk of poor health despite meeting the recommendations for physical activity [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. During most of our lives, energy expenditure is greater in normal daily life than in sport, physical training, and exercise, with the exceptions of children and the elderly, where planned physical activity is more important [ 28 ].

Recommendations regarding physical activity for different target groups. Note that additional health effects can be achieved if, in addition to these recommendations, the amount of physical activity increases, either by increasing the intensity or duration or a combination of both.

Compiled from FYSS 2017 ( www.fyss.se ) and WHO 2017 ( www.who.int ).

3. Aerobic and Muscle-Strengthening Physical Activity

Physical activity is categorized according to FYSS as: (1) Aerobic physical activity and (2) muscle-strengthening physical activity. Physical activity in everyday life and exercise training is mainly an aerobic activity, where a majority of energy production occurs via oxygen-dependent pathways. Aerobic physical activity is the type of activity typically associated with stamina, fitness, and the biggest health benefits [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Muscle-strengthening physical activity is referred to in everyday language as “strength training” or “resistance training” and is a form of physical exercise/training that is primarily intended to maintain or improve various forms of muscle strength and increase or maintain muscle mass [ 32 ]. Sometimes, another category is defined: Muscle-enhancing physical activity, important for maintenance or improvement of coordination and balance, especially in the elderly [ 33 ]. According to these definitions, muscle-strengthening activities primarily involve the body’s anaerobic (without oxygen) energy systems, proportionally more as intensity increases.

Exercise intensity can be expressed in absolute or relative terms. Absolute intensity means the physical work (for example; Watts [W], kg, or metabolic equivalent [MET]), while relative intensity is measured against the person’s maximum capacity or physiology (for example; percentage of maximum heart rate (%HR), rate of perceived exhaustion (RPE), W·kg −1 or relative oxygen uptake in L·min −1 ·kg −1 (VO 2 )). In terms of recommendations to the public, as in Table 1 , the intensity is often described in subjective terms (“makes you breathe harder” for moderate intensity, and “makes you puff and pant” for vigorous intensity) [ 27 ]. While objective criteria such as heart rate and accelerometry will capture the intensity of activity, they may not distinguish between different types of physical activity behaviors [ 34 ]. FYSS defines low intensity as 20%–39% of VO 2 max, <40 %HR, 1.5–2.9 METs; moderate intensity as 40%–59% of VO 2 max, 60–74 %HR, 3.0–5.9 METs, and vigorous intensity as 60%–89% of VO 2 max, 75–94 %HR, 6.0–8.9 METs. Absolute intensity, however, can vary greatly between individuals where a patient with heart disease may have a maximal capacity of <3 MET, and an elite athlete >20 MET [ 35 ].

4. How does the Body Adapt to Physical Activity and Training?

Adaption to physical activity and training is a complex physiological process, but may, in the context of this paper, be simplified by a fundamental basic principle:” The general adaptation syndrome (GAS)” [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. This principle assumes that physical activity disturbs the body’s physiological balance, which the body then seeks to restore, all in a dose-related response relationship. The overload principle states that if exercise intensity is too low, overload is not reached to induce desired physiological adaptations, whereas an intensity too high will result in fatigue and possibly overtraining. Thus, for adaptation to occur, greater than normal stress must be induced, interspersed with sufficient recovery periods for restoration of physiological balance [ 39 ]. During and immediately after physical exercise/training, functions of affected tissues and systems are impaired, manifested as temporarily decreased performance. You feel tired. In order to gradually improve performance capacity, repeated cycles of adequate overload and recovery are required [ 40 ]. In practice, positive effects can be seen after a relatively short period of a few weeks, but more substantial improvements if the training is maintained for a longer period.

As a rule of thumb, it is assumed that all people can adapt to physical activity and exercise, but the degree of adaptation depends on many factors, including age, heredity, the environment, and diet [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. The hereditary factor (genetics) may be the most critical for adaptation [ 45 ]. The degree of adaptation also depends on how the person in question trained previously; a well-trained athlete usually does not have the same relative improvement as an untrained one. Even if training is thought to be specific to mode, intensity, and duration, there are some overlaps. For example, it has been found that strength training in some individuals contributes to a relatively large positive impact on health and endurance, effects previously associated primarily with aerobic exercise [ 46 , 47 ]. The overload principle may, if applied too vigorously in relation to a person’s individual adaptation ability, have detrimental effects, including reduced performance, injury, overtraining, and disease [ 10 ]. Training is a commodity that must be renewed; otherwise, you gradually lose achieved performance improvements [ 48 ], although some capacities, such as muscle memory, seem to persist for life [ 49 ].

General recommendations for health may be stated, but individual predispositions make general training schedules for specific performance effects unpredictable. All exercise training should be adjusted to individual purposes, goals, and circumstances.

5. Health Effects of Physical Activity and Training

Human biology requires a certain amount of physical activity to maintain good health and wellbeing. Biological adaption to life with less physical activity would take many generations. People living today have, more or less, the same requirements for physical activity as 40,000 years ago [ 50 , 51 ]. For an average man with a body weight of 70 kg, this corresponds to about 19 km daily walking in addition to everyday physical activity [ 52 ]. For most people, daily physical activity decreases, while planned, conscious exercise and training increases [ 19 , 53 ]. Unfortunately, average daily energy intake is increasing more than daily energy output, creating an energy surplus. This is one reason for the increasing number of overweight people, and a strong contributor to many health problems [ 54 ]. More sedentary living (not reaching recommended level of physical activity), combined with increased energy intake, impairs both physical and mental capabilities and increases the risk of disease. Despite this, Swedes (as an example) seemed to be as physically active and stressed but had better general health in 2015, compared to 2004 ( Figure 1 ). Compared to 2004–2007, the Swedish population in 2012–2015 reported better overall health (more county-dots are blue) and less fatigue (smaller county-dots) with similar level of physical activity (~65% indicated at least 30 min daily physical activity) and stress (~13% were stressed).

Selected physical and mental health indicators of a Sweden cohort, in relation to the degree of physical activity for the period of years 2004–2007 ( N = 29,254) and years 2012–2015 ( N = 38,553). Surveyed subjects are age 16 to 84 years old, with data representing median scores of four years, not normalized for age. Y-axis: Percentage of subjects reporting “stressed”; X-axis: Percentage of subjects indicating physical active at least 30 minutes each day. Each dot represents one County (Län), dot-size indicates self-reported fatigue, and color self-reported healthiness of the County. If 70% of the population states they are having “Good/Very good” health, the dot is blue. If less than 70% states they are having good/very good health, the dot is red. The circle indicated with a black arrow corresponds to nation median. The black line connected to the nation circle represents the movement in the X–Y plane from the year 2004 to 2007, and from 2012 to 2015, respectively. Data retrieved from the Public Health Agency of Sweden 2019-04-22 ( www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se ).

Results in Figure 1 may in part be explained by a polarization of who is physically active: Some individuals are extremely active, others very inactive, giving a similar central tendency (mean/median). As physical activity and mental stress are not changed, but health is, the figure indicates that other factors must be more important to our overall health and fatigue. Recently, a national study of Swedish 11- to 15-year-olds concluded that this age group is inactive for most of their time awake, that is, sitting, standing or moving very little [ 55 ]. Time as inactive increased with age, from 67 percent for 11-year-olds to 75 percent for 15-year-olds. The study states that in all age groups, the inactive time is evenly distributed over the week, with school time, leisure time, and weekend. Further, those who feel school-related stress have more inactive time, both overall and during school hours, than those who have less school-related stress.

People active in sports have, in general, better health than those who do not participate in sports, because they are physically and mentally prepared for the challenges of sports, abilities that in many cases can be transferred to other parts of life [ 56 ].

However, there is a certain bias in this statement. Sport practitioners are already positively selected, because sickness and injury may prevent participation. As many health benefits of sport are related to the level of physical activity, separation of sport and physical exercise may be problematic. Regardless, societal benefits of these health effects can be seen in lower morbidity, healthier elderly, and lower medical costs [ 7 , 57 , 58 ].

Health effects of physical activity in many cases follow a dose–response relationship; dose of physical activity is in proportion to the effect on health [ 59 , 60 ]. Figure 2 depicts the relationship between risk of death and level of physical activity, in a Finnish twin cohort, adjusted for smoking, occupational group, and alcohol consumption [ 59 ]. Odds ratio (OR) for the risk of all-cause mortality in a larger sample in the same study was 0.80 for occasional exercisers ( p = 0.002, 95% CI = 0.69–0.91). This dose–response relationship between risk of all-cause mortality and physical activity is evident in several extensive studies [ 60 , 61 , 62 ]. The total dose is determined by the intensity (how strenuous), duration (duration), and frequency (how often). While Figure 2 shows sex differences in death rates, it is likely that sedentary behavior is equally hazardous for men and women, but inconsistent results sometime occur due to inadequate assessment measures, or low statistical power [ 59 , 63 ]. To obtain the best possible development due to physical exercise/training, both for prevention and treatment purposes, a basic understanding of how these variables affect the dose of activity is required, as well as understanding how they can be modified to suit individual requirements. A physically active population is important for the health of both the individual and society, with sport participation being one, increasingly important, motivator for exercise.

Relative risk (odds ratio; OR) of premature death in relationship to level of physical activity, in 286 male and 148 female twin pairs, adjusted for smoking, occupational group, and use of alcohol [ 59 ].

There is strong scientific evidence supporting an association between physical exercise/training and good physical and mental health. For example: A reduction in musculoskeletal disorders and reduced disability due to chronic disease [ 27 , 64 ], better mental health with reduced anxiety [ 65 , 66 ], insomnia [ 67 ], depression [ 31 ], stress [ 68 ], and other psychological disorders [ 69 ]. Physical and mental health problems are related to an increased risk of developing a number of our major public health diseases and may contribute to premature death ( Table 2 ).

Health-related physiological effects of aerobic and muscle strengthening physical activity. Green circle indicates that the activity contributes with an effect, whereas a red circle indicates that the activity has no proven effect. Orange circle indicates that the activity may in some cases be effective.

5.1. Effects on Physical Health

The effects of physical activity and exercise are both acute (during and immediately after) and long-lasting. Effects remaining after a long period of regular physical activity have far-reaching consequences for health and are described below. For example, some muscle enzymes’ activity can be quickly increased by physical exercise/training but just as quickly be lost when idle [ 118 ]. Other changes remain for months or years even if training ends—for instance, increased number and size of muscle fibers and blood vessels [ 49 , 119 , 120 ]. Good health, therefore, requires physical activity to be performed with both progression and continuity. Most of the conducted physical exercise/training is a combination of both aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise, and it can be difficult to distinguish between their health effects ( Table 2 ).

To describe ill-health, indicators of life expectancy, disease incidence (number), and prevalence (how often) are used [ 121 ]. In describing the relationship between physical activity and falling ill with certain diseases, the dose–response relationship, the effect size (the risk reduction that is shown in studies), and the recommended type and dose of physical activity are considered [ 122 ]. Table 3 shows the relative effects of regular physical activity ton the risk of various diseases (US Department of Human Services, 2009). The greatest health gains are for people who move from completely sedentary to moderately active lifestyles, with health effects seen before measurable improvements in physical performance. Previously, most scientific studies collected data only on aerobic physical activity. However, resistance exercise also shows promising health (mental and physical) and disease-prevention effects [ 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 ].

Disease prevention effects of regular physical activity.

Compiled from US Department of Health and Human Service, https://health.gov/paguidelines/report/ [ 62 , 146 ] 1 : Risk reduction refers to the relative risk in physically active samples in comparison to a non-active sample, i.e., a risk reduction of 20% means that the physically active sample has a relative risk of 0.8, compared to the non-active sample, which has 1.0. 2 : In general, general recommendations for PA that are described and referred to herein apply to most conditions. However, in some cases, more specific recommendations exist, more in depth described by the US Department of Health and Human Service, amongst others [ 62 ]. 3 : Evidence is dependent on cancer subtype; refer to US Department of Health and Human Service [ 62 ] for in-depth guidance. PA = Physical.

Aerobic physical activity has been shown to benefit weight maintenance after prior weight loss, reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, normalize blood lipids, and help with cancer/cancer-related side effects ( Table 2 and Table 3 ), while effects on chronic pain are not as clear [ 29 ].

Muscle-strengthening physical activity has, in contrast to aerobic exercise, been shown to reduce muscle atrophy [ 128 ], risk of falling [ 75 ], and osteoporosis [ 74 ] in the elderly. Among the elderly, both men and women adapt positively to strength training [ 129 ]. Strength training also prevents obesity [ 130 ], enhances cognitive performance if done alongside aerobic exercise [ 131 ], counteracts the development of neurodegenerative diseases [ 132 , 133 , 134 ], reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome [ 135 ], counteracts cancer/cancer-related side effects [ 135 , 136 ], reduces pain and disability in joint diseases [ 137 ], and enhances bone density [ 137 , 138 ]. The risk of falling increases markedly with age and is partly a result of reduced muscle mass, and reduced coordination and balance [ 76 , 139 , 140 ]. A strong correlation between physical performance, reduced risk of falls, and enhanced quality of life is therefore, not surprisingly, found in older people [ 141 ]. Deterioration in muscle strength, but not muscle mass, increases the risk of premature death [ 142 ] but can be counteracted by exercise as a dose–response relationship describes the strength improvement in the elderly [ 122 , 143 ]. Recommendations state high-intensity strength training (6–8 repetitions at 80% of 1-repetition maximum) as most effective [ 144 ]. Muscle strengthening physical activity for better health is recommended as a complement to aerobic physical activity [ 29 ]. Amongst the elderly, vibration training can be an alternative to increase strength [ 145 ].

5.2. Effects on Mental Health

Mental illness is a global problem affecting millions of people worldwide [ 147 ]. Headache, stress, insomnia, fatigue, and anxiety are all measures of mental ill health. The term “ ill health ” constitutes a collection of several mental health problems and symptoms with various levels of seriousness. Studies have compared expected health benefits from regular physical activity for improvement of mental health with other treatments, for example, medication. Most recent studies show that physical activity and exercise used as a primary, or secondary, processing method have significant positive effects in preventing or alleviating depressive symptoms [ 31 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 ] and have an antidepressant effect in people with neurological diseases [ 152 ]. Training and exercise improve the quality of life and coping with stress and strengthen self-esteem and social skills [ 69 , 153 ]. Training and exercise also lessen anxiety in people who are diagnosed with an anxiety- or stress-related disease [ 68 ], improve vocabulary learning [ 154 ], memory [ 155 , 156 ], and creative thinking [ 157 ].

The same Swedish data as used in Figure 1 show that between the years 2004–2007 and 2012–2015 anxiety, worry, and insomnia decreased but were not obviously correlated to the slightly increased level of physical activity in the population during the same period. Thus, in a multifactorial context, the importance of physical exercise alone cannot be demonstrated in this dataset.

Some of the suggested physiological explanations for improved mental health with physical activity and exercise are greater perfusion and increased brain volume [ 107 , 158 ], increased volume of the hippocampus [ 106 ], and the anti-inflammatory effects of physical activity, reducing brain inflammation in neurological diseases [ 159 ]. Physical exercise may also mediate resilience to stress-induced depression via skeletal muscle peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), enhancing kynurenine conversion to kynurenine acid, which in turn protects the brain and reduces the risk for stress-induced depression [ 153 ]. Further, increased release of growth factors, endorphins, and signaling molecules are other exercise-induced enhancers of mental health [ 69 ].

6. How Sport Affects Health

Sport’s main purposes are to promote physical activity and improve motor skills for health and performance and psychosocial development [ 56 ]. Participants also gain a chance to be part of a community, develop new social circles, and create social norms and attitudes. In healthy individuals, and patients with mental illness, sport participation has been shown to provide individuals with a sense of meaning, identity, and belonging [ 160 , 161 ]. Whether the sport movement exists or not, training and competition including physical activity will happen. Sport’s added values, in addition to the health benefits of physical activity, are therefore of interest. Some argue that it is doubtful, or at least not confirmed, that health development can come from sport, while others believe that healthy sport is something other than health, reviewed in depth by Coakley [ 162 ]. In a sporting context, health is defined as subjective (e.g., one feels good), biological (e.g., not being sick), functional (e.g., to perform), and social (e.g., to collaborate) [ 163 ]. Holt [ 56 ] argued that the environment for positive development in young people is distinctly different from an environment for performance, as the latter is based on being measured and assessed. That said, certain skills (goal setting, leadership, etc.) can be transferred from a sporting environment to other areas of life. The best way to transfer these abilities is, at the moment, unclear.

Having the goal to win at all costs can be detrimental to health. This is especially true for children and adolescents, as early engagement in elite sports increases the risk of injury, promotes one-dimensional functional development, leads to overtraining, creates distorted social norms, risks psychosocial disorders, and has the risk of physical and psychological abuse [ 15 , 164 ]. Of great importance, therefore, is sport’s goal of healthy performance development, starting at an early age. For older people, a strong motivating factor to conduct physical activity is sports club membership [ 165 ]. One can summarize these findings by stating sport’s utility at the transition between different stages of the life; from youth to adulthood and from adulthood to old age. There, sports can be a resource for good physical and mental health [ 166 ].

Today, a higher proportion of the population, compared to 50 years ago, is engaged in organized sports, and to a lesser extent performs spontaneous sports ( Figure 3 ), something that Engström showed in 2004 [ 17 ] and is confirmed by data from The Swedish Sports Confederation ( www.rf.se ). Of the surveyed individuals in 2001, 50%–60% of children and young people said they were active in a sports club. The trend has continued showing similar progression to 2011, with up to 70% of school students playing sports in a club. Furthermore, the study shows that those active in sport clubs also spontaneously do more sports [ 167 ]. Similar data from the years 2007–2018, compiled from open sources at The Swedish Sports Confederation, confirm the trend with an even higher share of youths participating in organized sports, compared to 1968 and 2001 ( Figure 4 ).

Spontaneous sport has decreased over the last decades, to the advantage of organized sport. Data compiled from Engström, 2004, The Swedish Research Council for Sport Science.

Data compiled from open sources report Sport Statistics (Idrotten i siffror) at The Swedish Sports Confederation for the year 2011 ( www.rf.se ).

Taking part in sports can be an important motivator for physical activity for older people [ 165 , 166 ]. With aging, both participation in sports ( Figure 4 ) and physical activity in everyday life [ 168 ] decreases. At the same time, the number of people who are physically active both in leisure and in organized sports increases (The Public Health Agency of Sweden 2017; www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se ). Consequently, among elderly people, a greater proportion of the physical activity occurs within the context of sport [ 8 , 28 ]. Together, research shows that organized sports, in clubs or companies, are more important for people’s overall physical activity than ever before. Groups that are usually less physically active can be motivated through sport—for example, elderly men in sport supporters’ clubs [ 169 ], people in rural areas [ 170 ], migrants [ 171 ], and people with alternative physical and mental functions [ 172 ]. No matter how you get your sporting interest, it is important to establish a physical foundation at an early age to live in good health when you get older ( Figure 5 ). As seen in Figure 5 , a greater sport habitus at age 15 results in higher physical activity at 53 years of age. Early training and exposure to various forms of sports are therefore of great importance. Participation creates an identity, setting the stage for a high degree of physical activity later in life [ 173 ].

Odds ratio (OR) of physical activity at age 53 in relation to Sport habitus at age 15. Sport habitus (“the total physical capital"), including cultural capital, athletic diversity, and grades in physical education and health are, according to Engström [ 173 ], the factors most important for being physically active in later life. For a further discussion on sport habitus, the readers are referred to Engström, 2008 [ 173 ]. Numbers above bar show the 95% confidence interval. ** = significant difference from “Very low”, p < 0.01. *** = p < 0.001.

7. Sport’s Effects on the Health of Children and Young People

The effects of participation in organized sports for children and young people are directly linked to physical activity, with long term secondary effects; an active lifestyle at a young age fosters a more active lifestyle as an adult. As many diseases that are positively affected by physical activity/exercise appear later in life, continued participation in sport as an adult will reduce morbidity and mortality.

It must be emphasized that good physical and mental health of children and young people participating in sport requires knowledge and organization based on everyone’s participation. Early specialization counteracts, in all regards, both health and performance development [ 174 , 175 ].

7.1. Positive Aspects

According to several reviews, there is a correlation between high daily physical activity in children and a low risk for obesity, improved development of motor and cognitive skills, as well as a stronger skeleton [ 176 , 177 ]. Positive effects on lipidemia, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, body composition, metabolic syndrome, bone density and depression, increased muscle strength, and reduced damage to the skeleton and muscles are also described [ 178 , 179 ]. If many aspects are merged in a multidimensional analysis [ 8 , 173 ], the factors important for future good health are shown to be training in sports, broad exposure to different sports, high school grades, cultural capital, and that one takes part in sport throughout childhood ( Table 4 ).

Compiled health profiles for men and women at the age of 20 years, depending on participation in organized sports at the age of 5, 7, 8, 10, 14, and 17 years.

Classification with repeated latent class analysis creates three groups for girls and boys, respectively: Children who never participated (girls only), participated, quit prematurely, or began late (only boys) in sports. Arrows indicate whether participation in sports at young age has an effect on health at 20 years of age. Green up arrow is positive, red down arrow negative, and a horizontal black double arrow shows that sport had no significant effect. Modified from Howie et. al., 2016 [ 8 ].

Psychological benefits of sports participation of young people were compiled by Eime et al. [ 1 ], where the conclusion was that sporting children have better self-esteem, less depression, and better overall psychosocial health. One problem with most of these studies, though, is that they are cross-sectional studies, which means that no cause–effect relationship can be determined. As there is a bias for participating children towards coming from socially secure environments, the results may be somewhat skewed.

7.2. Negative Aspects

As Table 4 and Table 5 show, there are both positive and negative aspects of sports. Within children’s and youth sports, early specialization to a specific sport is a common phenomenon [ 175 ]. There is no scientific evidence that early specialization would have positive impact, neither for health nor for performance later in life [ 175 ]. No model or method including performance at a young age can predict elite performance as an adult. By contrast, specialization and competitiveness can lead to injury, overtraining, increased psychological stress, and reduced training motivation, just to mention a few amongst many negative aspects [ 174 , 175 ]. Another important aspect is that those who are excluded from sports feel mentally worse [ 8 ]. As there is a relationship between depressive episodes in adolescence, and depression as adults [ 116 ], early exclusion has far-reaching consequences. Therefore, sports for children and young people have future health benefits by reducing the risk of developing depression and depressive symptoms, as well as improved wellbeing throughout life.

Positive and negative aspects with sport (at young age).

While some degree of sport specialization is necessary to develop elite-level athletes, research shows clear adverse health effects of early specialization and talent selection [ 180 ]. More children born during the fall and winter (September–December) are excluded [ 181 ], and as a group, they are less physically active than spring (January–April) children, both in sports and leisure ( Figure 6 ). In most sports and in most countries, there is a skewed distribution of participants when sorted by birth-date, and there are more spring children than fall children among those who are involved in sport [ 182 , 183 , 184 , 185 , 186 ]. Because a large part of the physical activity takes place in an organized form, this leads to lower levels of physical activity for late-born persons (Malm, Jakobsson, and Julin, unpublished data). Early orientation and training in physical activity and exercise will determine how active you are later in life. Greater attention must be given to stimulating as many children and young people as possible to participate in sport as long as possible, both in school and on their leisure time. According to statistics from the Swedish Sports Confederation in 2016, this relative-age effect persists throughout life, despite more starting than ending with sport each year [ 18 ].

The figure shows the distribution of 7597 children aged 10 years and younger who in 2014 were registered as active in one particular, individual sport in Sweden (data compiled from the Swedish Sport Confederation, www.rf.se ). Spring, Summer, and Fall represent January–April, May–August, and September–December, respectively.

When summarize, the positive and negative aspects of sport at a young age can be divided into three categories: (1) Personal identification, (2) social competence, and (3) physiological capacity, briefly summarized in Table 5 . A comprehensive analysis of what is now popularly known as “physical literacy” has recently been published [ 187 ].

7.3. Relevance of Sports

Sports can make children and young people develop both physically and mentally and contribute with health benefits if planned and executed exercise/training considers the person’s own capacities, social situation, and biological as well as psychological maturation. In children and adolescents, it is especially important to prevent sports-related injuries and health problems, as a number of these problems are likely to remain long into adulthood, sometimes for life. Comprehensive training is recommended, which does not necessarily mean that you have to participate in various sports. What is required is diverse training within every sport and club. Research shows that participation in various sports simultaneously during childhood and adolescence is most favorable for healthy and lifelong participation [ 8 , 173 , 188 , 189 ].

8. Sport’s Effects on the Health of Adults and the Elderly

Adults who stop participating in sports reduce their physical activity and have health risks equal to people who have neither done sports nor been physical [ 190 , 191 ]. Lack of adherence to exercise programs is a significant hindrance in achieving health goals and general physical activity recommendations in adults and the elderly [ 192 ]. While several socioeconomic factors are related to exercise adherence, it is imperative that trainers and health care providers are informed about factors that can be modulated, such as intervention intensity (not to high), duration (not too long), and supervision, important for higher adherence, addressed more in depth by Rivera-Torres, Fahey and Rivera [ 192 ].

Healthy aging is dependent on many factors, such as the absence of disease, good physical and mental health, and social commitment (especially through team sports or group activities) [ 193 ]. Increased morbidity with age may be partly linked to decreased physical activity. Thus, remaining or becoming active later in life is strongly associated with healthy aging [ 194 ]. With increased age, there is less involvement in training and competition ( Figure 4 ), and only 20% of adults in Sweden are active, at least to some extent, in sports clubs, and the largest proportion of adults who exercise do it on their own. The following sections describes effects beyond what is already provided for children and youths.

8.1. Positive Aspects

Participation in sports, with or without competition, promotes healthy behavior and a better quality of life [ 166 ]. Exclusion from sports at a young age appears to have long-term consequences, as the previously described relative age effect ( Figure 6 ) remains even for master athletes (Malm, Jakobsson, and Julin, unpublished data). Because master athletes show better health than their peers [ 95 ], actions should be taken to include adults and elderly individuals who earlier in life were excluded from, or never started with sport [ 195 ]. As we age, physical activity at a health-enhancing intensity is not enough to maintain all functions. Higher intensity is required, best comprising competition-oriented training [ 196 , 197 ]. One should not assume that high-intensity exercise cannot be initiated by the elderly [ 198 ]. Competitive sports, or training like a competitive athlete as an adult, can be one important factor to counter the loss of physical ability with aging [ 199 ]. In this context, golf can be one example of a safe form of exercise with high adherence for older adults and the elderly, resulting in increased aerobic performance, metabolic function, and trunk strength [ 200 , 201 ].

8.2. Negative Aspects

Increased morbidity (e.g., cardiovascular disease) with aging is seen also among older athletes [ 202 ] and is associated with the same risk factors as in the general population [ 203 ]. An increased risk of cardiovascular disease among adults (master) compared to other populations has been found [ 204 ]. Unfortunately, the designs and interpretations of these studies have been criticized, and the incidence of cardiac arrest in older athletes is unclear [ 205 ]. In this context, the difference between competitive sports aiming to optimize performance and recreational sports has to be taken into account, where the former is more likely to induce negative effects due to high training loads and/or impacts during training and games. Although high-intensity training even for older athletes is positive for aerobic performance, it does not prevent the loss of motor units [ 206 ].

Quality of life is higher in sporting adults compared to those who do not play sports, but so is the risk of injury. When hit by injury, adults and young alike may suffer from psychological disorders such as depression [ 207 ], but with a longer recovery time in older individuals [ 208 ]. As with young athletes, secession of training at age 50 years and above reduces blood flow in the brain, including the hippocampus, possibly related to long-term decline in mental capacity [ 209 ].

8.3. Relevance of Sport

As for children and young people, many positive health aspects come through sport also for adults and the elderly [ 210 ]. Sport builds bridges between generations, a potential but not elucidated drive for adults’ motivation for physical activity. The percentage of adults participating in competitive sports has increased in Sweden since 2010, from about 20 percent to 30 percent of all of those who are physically active [ 18 ], a trend that most likely provides better health for the group in the 30–40 age group and generations to come.

9. Recommendations for Healthy Sport

• 1. Plan exercise, rest, and social life. For health-promoting and healthy-aging physical activity, refer to general guidelines summarized in this paper: Aerobic exercise three times a week, muscle-strengthening exercise 2–3 times a week.
• 2. Set long-term goals.
• 3. Adopt a holistic performance development including physiological, medical, mental, and psychosocial aspects.
• ○ a. Exercise load (time, intensity, volume);
• ○ b. Recovery (sleep, resting heart rate, appetite, estimated fatigue, etc.);
• ○ c. Sickness (when–where–how, type of infections, how long one is ill, etc.);
• ○ d. Repeat type- and age-specific physical tests with relevant evaluation and feedback;
• ○ e. Frequency of injuries and causes.
• ○ a. Motivation for training, competition, and socializing;
• ○ b. Personal perception of stress, anxiety, depression, alienation, and self-belief;
• ○ c. Repeat type- and age-specific psychological tests with relevant evaluation and feedback.
• 6. Register and interpret signs of overtraining, such as reduced performance over time, while maintaining or increasing exercise load.

Author Contributions

C.M. and A.J. conceived and designed the review. C.M., A.J., J.J. and interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. J.J. edited the manuscript, tables, and figures. All authors approved the final version.

This work was supported by the Swedish Sports Confederation.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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IELTS Essay Plan – Will a larger number of sports facilities help improve public health?

• IELTS Essays - plans

Today we are sharing some ideas for writing an essay on the topic below, which was recently seen in the IELTS exam in Saudi Arabia . Below you will find a list of arguments that can be used in your own essay.

The arguments are independent, and you can use any or all of them. To get your work checked and marked by a teacher, please get instructions on this page .

Writing task 2 topic

Some say that public health is important and there should be more sports facilities. Others say that they have small impact on individuals. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task and write at least 250 words.

Introduction

Public health has been the primary concern not only for civilians but also for governments around the globe. However, when it comes to measures of its improvement, views differ greatly.

View 1 – arguments

1. Since sports facilities are of great benefit to citizens’ physical health, it is absolutely necessary and wise to enhance their numbers for the sake of the improvement of public health.

2. Sports facilities that are easily found and controlled can provide great convenience to people who have paucity of time to take physical exercises more flexibly.

3. Sports facilities are particularly welcomed by senior citizens and youngsters whose health is vital to the whole society. Therefore, more sports facilities should be built to meet the great demand of citizens of all ages.

4. There is no doubt that taking regular physical exercise reduces the incidence of obesity and heart diseases to some extent, so that increasing the number of sports facilities in the local communities can help some people to establish an active lifestyle, thereby improving their health condition.

View 2 – arguments

1. It is a fact that only a minority of people utilize facilities at sports centres to keep fit, which means the vast majority of people do not benefit from this programme.

2. Some people argue that the use of sports facilities is restricted by time, seasons and location. Therefore, they are not suitable for all citizens, especially those working from 9am till 5pm.

3. Modern diseases are triggered by various factors, such as eating unhealthy food and neglecting regular checkups. Hence, it is recommended that governments and health authorities put health education among the masses high on their agenda and raise public awareness on health issues. This can be accomplished by delivering information on how to lead a healthy life to every household, and putting stringent regulations on the fast food industry.

Improving public health requires a combined effort and no single action can resolve the problem effectively. In addition, although solving the problem is not insurmountable, yet a long term commitment by both individuals and governments is required.

paucity, stringent, vital, incidence, obesity, triggered, advocate, accomplish, neglecting, insurmountable

This essay plan was kindly provided by Nipun Jain, IELTS-Blog Essay Evaluation Team

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1 thought on “IELTS Essay Plan – Will a larger number of sports facilities help improve public health?”

Poverty is a global problem, especially for developing countries of Asian and African continents. Every year they have received lot of financial aid from different developed countries and organizations but yet people of these areas lived under poverty line. However, some people think that developing countries should be taken other kind of support with monetary grant. Personally, I am supporting the people who think that other kinds of help with financial support needed to mitigate or end the poverty from developing countries.

On the one side, nowadays developing countries has suffered lot of problems like poverty, unemployment problem, overpopulation, pollution, political unrest, low production and many more. However, poverty is the root causes of all problems in the developing countries and every year donor parties or many developed nation has given them monetary support especially soft loan to eradicate the current poverty problem. But, still the poverty problem is there because only money is not enough to solve the poverty problem within these supports. For instance, every fiscal year ADB or World Bank has been supporting the poor nations to overcome the poverty through grants but still these countries have suffered due to poverty.

On the other hand, the developing countries has needed others support from donor agency or developed countries like skill training program for increasing long term income generating activities, development of awareness program to optimize the population, mechanization in agriculture and proper utilization of agriculture land. Furthermore, it will be better if they are helping the people to learn more soft skill for working in foreign countries to support their families and countries. Besides, the Government of developing countries should facilitate their manpower through entrepreneurship development program and others. Additionally, the Government of developing countries should focus on their own resources and set a plan to overcome the poverty problems and it would be great if they invite more foreign investment in the countries like roads and highways, shipment and building construction, educational support for the development of the countries. For example, Bangladesh was a low income country just few year ago but now this country enter intro middle income countries by not only receipt the grants from developed countries but also they have receipt others help from donor parties and also they have own plan to mitigate the poverty problem.

To sum up, I think the developing countries should take others long term support (e.g. training, educational backup, infrastructure development, export business, exposure program and many more) from developed countries plus financial help for specific time. However, the developing countries have own plan how to mitigate the poverty problems by proper utilization of own resources.

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Identifying the Real Costs and Benefits of Sports Facilities

While public spending on sports facilities has been staggering, this economic development strategy is rife with inadequate information on major issues relating to these projects. Decision makers often have a limited understanding of the real costs and benefits of sports facilities. This incomplete understanding often leads to unforeseen public expenditures at levels far above those originally budgeted for a project. Unlike most of the literature on sports facilities, this paper does not begin with the premise that sports facilities are poor investments, nor does it espouse the view that these investments provide benefits that far outweigh project costs. Instead, this paper assumes that decision makers require a baseline of information available to them when considering this approach to economic development. This baseline of information includes 1) a broad understanding of existing literature on sports facilities and economic development and 2) an awareness of the full range of costs and benefits of these projects.

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Community benefits of major sport facilities: The Darebin International Sports Centre

2012, Sport Management Review

Community benefit is a term used frequently in an Australian government context to justify the construction of sport facilities that require initial and ongoing financial support from the community. The purpose of this research is to investigate the community benefit derived from the development of a new sport facility, in this case the Darebin International Sports Centre (DISC), Melbourne, Australia and examine community (user) perceptions to verify claims that the venue delivers a range of community benefits. Interviews were undertaken with both facility users and key stakeholders at the venue, and the data was qualitatively analysed to identify specific incidents and coded into concepts to identify predominate themes or patterns: social/psychic impacts; community visibility and image impacts; developmental impacts and political impacts. The findings of this study indicate that, from a user perspective, DISC provides an extensive range of noneconomic benefits such as increased accessibility, exposure, participation and success. The majority of facility users stated that the development of DISC has had a positive effect on their sport, sporting community and sporting experience.► In this article we provide a case study of the community benefits of a sport facility (DISC). ► Impacts identified are social/psychic; community visibility and image; developmental and political. ► DISC provides noneconomic benefits to users: accessibility, exposure, participation and success. ► The DISC development had a positive effect on participants’ community and sporting experience.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to provide a discussion on using sport events for community development through the lenses of community development theories and perceived event impacts.Design/methodology/approachThe nature of the paper was not based on a specific methodology or design, rather on a review of relevant studies that aim to support strategies of how to develop a community through the hosting of sport events utilizing community development theories.FindingsThe review revealed that the profile of the community could influence the use of asset or needs-based community theory to achieve community development goals associated with hosting certain size of sport events.Originality/valueThe combination of community development theories with the literature in sport event impacts and legacies provides a novel approach to the discussion of community development through sport events.

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Leisure and mass sports are very significant both socially and economically. Physical activities contribute to forming a healthier society. Skills and abilities developed by sport promote people’s well-being and directly improve their physical, mental and psychological performance this way producing better quality of life. The state of health of the workforce is a more and more frequent question in developed and developing economies but mostly in the western civilizations. Researches prove that those who are more active phisicly can perform better at their work and are more efficient in their jobs. They claim less sick leave benefit and their health insurance costs are lower, this way preserving the health of the workforce can be an investment in the future. If we want the population to live in a healthier way and do more sports only education and motivation are not enough, it is very important to provide the appropriate infrastructural background as well. People can have a wide ran...

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How sport can have a positive impact on mental and physical health

It’s not always easy to start a workout, but research shows that sport and exercise are beneficial not only for your physical health, but your mental well-being, too. Let us help!

Health experts and Olympic athletes agree: Your mental and physical health benefit when you get active and participate in sport – whatever that means for you.

From daily exercise to choosing a sport to practice or play, the body and mind are worked in new and different ways each time you move your body.

On June 23rd every year we come together to celebrate that, as part of Olympic Day.

For the 2020 edition, we connected with Olympians around the world for Olympic Day 2020 at-home workouts – and a reminder: We’re stronger together, especially when we stay active!

And those are still available online to help inspire you today.

Sport benefits: Both the physical and mental

While the physical benefits are numerous (more on that below), the UK's National Health Service (NHS) report that people who take part in regular physical activity have up to a 30 percent lower risk of depression.

Additionally, exercise can help lower anxiety, reduce the risk of illness and increase energy levels. Want better sleep? Work up a good sweat!

Exercise can help you fall asleep faster and sleep for longer, research says.

It was in June 2020 that the IOC partnered with the World Health Organization and United Nations to promote the #HEALTHYTogether campaign , which highlights the benefits of physical activity in the face of the pandemic.

Over 50 at-home workouts are searchable across Olympics.com for you, each which help further the idea that moving and challenging the body can only prove beneficial for your physical and mental well-being.

The athletes' perspective: 'I used this strength to survive'

“If I had sat doing nothing, I would have gone crazy,” says Syria's Sanda Aldass , who fled the trauma of civil war in her country, leaving behind her husband and infant child.

Instead, she had judo - and has been selected for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 for the Games in 2021.

“Running around and doing some exercises filled up my time and also kept me in good mental health,” Sanda said of the impact of sport on her life during nine months spent in a refugee camp in the Netherlands in 2015.

The same power of sport goes for Iranian taekwondo athlete Ali Noghandoost.

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Ielts essay # 469 - the best way to improve public health, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of sports facilities. others, however, say that this would have little effect on public health and that other measures are required., discuss both these views and give your own opinion..

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Essay 266 – The government should spend money on sports facilities for everybody

Gt writing task 2 / essay sample # 266.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people think that the government should spend money on sports facilities for training top athletes while others opine that the government should spend money on sports facilities for everybody.

Which viewpoint do you agree with?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

It is believed by many that the state should invest in sports facilities for preparing top sportspersons while others feel that authority should allocate a budget on sports infrastructure for everyone. In this case, I believe that the government ought to invest in sports facilities aimed at everybody because it will bring benefits to society as a whole.

From the health perspective, initiatives that facilitate people to work out regularly can help decrease some serious diseases like the incidents of cardiac arrests, diabetes, and cancer. This, in turn, brings forth higher productivity as well as lower health care costs. These are crucial goals for many nations where many suffer from obesity, a trend that has deteriorated just in a decade. Thus, developing sports facilities for mass people is advantageous in the sense that it will increase productivity while reducing health care costs.

In addition to this, it will also boost social cohesion, bringing individuals together from all walks of life and instilling a keen sense of shared identity and purpose. Moreover, funding for such facilities can provide young adults with a productive outlet, keeping them engaged and focused and boosting their self-esteem, thus substantially reducing their vulnerability to negative social influences. Most importantly, young people can sharpen skills like teamwork, leadership, perseverance to name but a few- the kinds of useful life skills employers seek in a job applicant- while even championing gender equality. Therefore, this paragraph also shows that investing in public sports facilities confers advantages to the nation as a whole.

In fine, this essay argues that the nation would be enormously benefited by raising productivity, reducing healthcare costs, strengthening social relationships, boosting young adults’ self-esteem provided by the sports facility for all. Therefore, the governments should invest heavily in sports facilities aimed at everybody, not just some selected sportsmen.

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/public-money-used-build-sports-stadiums

Why should public money be used to build sports stadiums?

Missouri and St. Louis tried mightily to keep the NFL Rams from decamping for Los Angeles, offering $400 million in state and city money for a new stadium. To justify the public expense, officials argued that the team, which moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis two decades ago, was an economic engine for the region.

They offered to put up the money even though the Rams’ billionaire owner, Stan Kroenke, could afford to build a new stadium on his own. Ultimately, Kroenke opted to do just that, announcing in January that he would spend $1.9 billion of his own fortune to build a new stadium for the Rams in Inglewood, southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Two other NFL teams, the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders, also are eyeing a move to the nation’s second largest city. But Nevada is hoping to grab the Raiders for itself, by dangling a $1.4 billion stadium that would be paid for, at least in part, by the taxpayers. Meanwhile in Atlanta, construction is underway on a new $950 million stadium for the NFL Falcons, to be financed partly through bonds secured by extending a tax on hotel and motel rooms.

Amid all the jockeying, a decadeslong debate rages on: Does it make economic sense for cities and states to use public money to build sports facilities?

As soon as the Rams-Inglewood deal was announced, Moody’s Investment Service said the move would boost Inglewood’s sagging economy.

“The new stadium will likely inject thousands of jobs into the local economy during the construction phase, as well as many new jobs post-completion,” Moody’s said. Inglewood will gain $18.7 million to $28 million of new annual revenue over 16 years, according to Moody’s.

In Atlanta, where the city and Fulton County decided to direct proceeds from a 7 percent hotel-motel tax to pay the debt service on municipal bonds that are financing Mercedes-Benz Stadium, officials are predicting a similar impact. The NFL also selected the city and its future stadium to host the 2019 Super Bowl.

“Being honored with the [Super Bowl] is proof positive that public-private partnerships in the area of urban development can result in constructive outcomes,” Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell said in a statement in May, when the NFL selected the site. “I applaud the collaborative efforts of the leadership team that made this a reality and look forward to hosting Super Bowl 53 like only Atlanta can.”

But many economists maintain that states and cities that help pay for new stadiums and arenas rarely get their money’s worth. Teams tout new jobs created by the arenas but construction jobs are temporary, and ushers and concession workers work far less than 40 hours a week.

Furthermore, when local and state governments agree to pony up money for stadiums, taxpayers are on the hook for years — sometimes even after the team leaves town. St. Louis, for example, is still paying $6 million a year on debt from building the Edward Jones Dome, the old home of the Rams that opened in 1995, despite the team’s move to California. The debt is financed by a hotel tax and taxes on “game day” revenues like concessions and parking.

Jackson Brainerd, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), said the teams often hold up cities and states for sweet financing deals by threatening to move.

“Clearly major league professional sports teams are all fully capable of paying for stadiums themselves,” he said, citing Los Angeles.

Tax-Free Bonds

Governmental entities have long used tax-free municipal bonds to finance infrastructure projects, including sports stadiums. Investors buy the bonds as a relatively risk-free vehicle to earn interest. Although the bonds generally pay lower interest rates to the buyer, they are attractive because of their tax-free status.

In his 2016 budget, President Barack Obama proposed getting rid of tax-free bonds to help finance stadiums, a practice that costs the U.S. Treasury $146 million a year, according to a 2012 Bloomberg analysis . Bloomberg calculated that the $17 billion in tax-exempt debt used to build stadiums since 1986 would cost taxpayers $4 billion. The idea, like most of Obama’s budget, failed to gain traction in the Republican-dominated Congress.

As far back as the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the government has tried to limit public financing of stadiums, arguing that the stadiums — unlike other publicly funded infrastructure like roads and bridges — only serve a small number of people and that rich team owners should foot the bill. The tax reform measure included a provision prohibiting direct stadium revenue — such as ticket sales or food concessions — from being used to secure more than 10 percent of the cost of the stadium.

The thinking was that the provision would force cities and states to find other sources of public revenue, like higher property taxes, hotel taxes or sales taxes, to finance stadiums, and that proposed increases in those taxes would get nowhere because politicians would be unwilling to anger citizens. But the law did not take into account the fan loyalty and pride that made new taxes politically acceptable, according to Dennis Zimmerman, a former Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service analyst who is an expert on stadium financing.

“Congress thought putting this 10 percent rule in would kill it,” Zimmerman said. “Nobody would expect taxpayers to hand over huge subsidies to these sports centers. But they did.”

Since 2000, more than 45 sports stadiums were either built or renovated, according to a 2010 NCSL study. The average cost to build or renovate a stadium during this time was $412 million. Since the early 1960s, 91 sports stadiums have been built with public funding, and 22 of them were fully paid for with public funds. Twenty-nine of the publicly financed stadiums were funded through a hotel tax, 27 were funded through general obligations, 24 were funded through sales taxes, 23 were funded through bonds and four were funded from lottery or gambling revenues, NCSL said.

In a paper published in February, Moody’s said both the growing popularity of professional soccer and the return of the NFL to Los Angeles County are “important drivers” of the increase in professional stadiums. After a lull in building from 2011 to 2015, stadium construction is on the upswing. Twice as many new stadiums, 12, are forecast to be completed over the next three years as were completed over the last five years, six, the report said. And most have at least some element of public financing.

New York Benefits

The value of bonds used to finance stadiums is influenced in part by how the team performs on the field. Better teams attract more fans, whose money is used to service the tax-free bonds.

One example is New York’s $850 million Citi Field, opened in 2009 with the help of $616 million in public subsidies, including New York state municipal bonds. The “Let’s go Mets!” cheers are louder at Citi Field lately, because fans are flocking to see a team that made a surprise run to the World Series last year.

The revenue from the healthy and growing number of fans led Moody’s Investors Service to upgrade the stadium’s bonds from a rating of Ba1, speculative and near “junk” status, to Baa3, a slightly higher rating that means the bonds are “investment grade.” They are therefore more attractive to investors in the resale market. If the state were to refinance the bonds, it would pay lower interest and the better investment grade would lure more buyers.

With the upgrade, the bonds crossed the bond market equivalent of baseball’s Mendoza Line , a derogatory term used for incompetent batters, usually those batting under .200.

Investors are more willing to buy highly rated bonds, just as baseball fans are more willing to support teams with better hitters.

“Ticket sales show performance today and performance in the future. If you make it to the World Series, every team but one in the last 14 years has experienced an increase in attendance of an average 10 percent,” said John Medina, vice president and senior analyst for Moody’s. (The exception was the San Francisco Giants in 2013, whose attendance dropped after winning the World Series in 2012.)

Across town, the new $2.3 billion Yankee Stadium, opened in 2009 with $1.2 billion in public money, also is considered a good investment (rated Baa2 by Moody’s). Because while the team has not played particularly well in the past few years, it is so solid and established that its fan base and ticket sales are reliable as a revenue source.

In most cases, fans’ spending on food, parking and luxury seat leases are included in bond rating criteria, but actual ticket sales are not.

But two IRS rulings specifically for the Yankees and the Mets made it possible for them to use ticket sales to secure bonds. (The Barclays Center in nearby Brooklyn, for example, home of the NBA Nets and NHL Islanders, can only use concessions, naming rights and premium seating to back up its bonds.) In addition, some stadiums have taxes on the tickets that are almost always used to finance public bonds for stadiums.

Richard Brodsky, a former New York state legislator who is now a senior fellow at New York University, said the fact that the Mets have a better team this year “is interesting in an academic way but it doesn’t get to the complaint that this is corporate welfare. The average citizen gets screwed.”

He bemoaned rising ticket prices, for example. MLB’s average ticket price rose 7.1 percent in 2016, according to a survey by Team Marketing Report , a sports sales and marketing company.

“Bond holders are happy, that’s fine; the people who are paying off the bonds are paying double what they used to pay for the same seats,” he said.

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Sports Facilities: Discuss Both Views [Sample Answer]

Posted by David S. Wills | Jun 27, 2020 | Model Essays | 0

It’s time for another sample band 9 answer and this week we are going to look at a “ discuss both views ” question from task 2 of the IELTS writing exam. The question that we will examine today is about sports facilities, but the ideas here can be applied to anything. Remember, there are many topics in the IELTS writing test and you should be prepared for the most common ones.

Understanding the Question

Before you begin writing an IELTS essay, you need to understand the question fully. That process has several parts. Let’s look at our question for today in order to understand it.

Some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of sports facilities. Others, however, say that this would have little effect on public health and that other measures are required. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.

What is the topic here?

• Government policy?

I would say that the answer is #2 – health. However, you can clearly see that the other topics I have listed are part of the question as well. You could not answer this well without talking about sports or society.

A Secret for Understanding the Question

If you want to understand a question better, the smart thing to do is paraphrase it. This is because you have to try harder to understand it and it can break the idea down better in your mind.

There are two parts to IELTS questions: the statement and the task :

You need to “discuss both views” and also give an opinion, but about what?

About those two statements:, which I shall paraphrase:

• More sports centres will improve public health.
• Sports centres would not help, but something else might.

Once you understand the question fully, you can begin to plan your answer. For this sort of question, it is possible to use 4 or 5 paragraphs , but I generally recommend 4 because it is easier and usually more effective.

Structure your IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay

I have lots of material on this website about structuring your IELTS writing task 2 essay, but today I will show you my outline for this model essay.

First, you should brainstorm some ideas about the topic. Don’t spend too much time doing this because it is better to spend that time on actually writing the essay. But you could make some notes like this:

Those are just a few ideas. You should brainstorm your own ones. You should also present your opinion . It is really important that you do not forget this part or else you will not have adequately answered the question.

Next, you have to wonder how to use your paragraphs to present these ideas effectively. Here is my sample answer:

This might not make much sense to you… but don’t worry! Notes are a personal thing and it is only really important that they make sense to the person writing them.

Sample Band 9 Answer

Ok, now that you have seen my structure plans, here is my essay:

There is much debate over the issue of how to help improve public health, and some people have suggested that there should be more sports facilities available. Others, however, say that this would have a minimal impact on the situation. This essay will look at both views and argue that it would indeed only have a small positive impact. Those who support building more public sports facilities believe that they will encourage more people to participate in regular exercise. This is logical, but there are already many public sports facilities available and it has had little impact. The only people who would likely benefit are children, and while this is important, children already have plenty of places to get exercise. Whilst millions of pounds could be spent on building new facilities, it seems that there is little that would really be contributed to helping solve this crisis. Even if there was an uptick in the number of people doing exercise, it would not eliminate the public health crisis as exercise is only one small part of it. While it is true that exercise is good for the human body, it is nearly impossible to burn off the number of calories that the average person is now consuming. Even if a person were to run a marathon, it would not negate the damaging effects of going to McDonald’s for lunch. That person would still end the day in a calorie surplus and therefore continue to gain weight. When you consider that few people can run marathons, it becomes obvious that the culprit for poor public health is not exercise but rather diet. In conclusion, it would be good to have more public sports facilities and there may be some small benefit to this, but unfortunately it would not be a significant benefit and other measures would need to be taken too.

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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Argumentative Essay: The Importance of Sports

Participation in sports is extremely important, and should be encouraged much more. Children and young people in particular need to do sport so that they develop good habits that they can continue into adulthood. The main benefits of sport are improved health and fitness, and the development of social and communication skills.

With more than a third of adults in the USA being classed as obese, and many more being overweight, it has never been more important to participate in sports. People that do sport on a regular basis are burning more calories than those that don’t, and are therefore less likely to end up overweight. Being a healthy weight means that you will be less likely to die young and suffer from heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes and a range of other conditions, and if you already eat well, it can give you an extra calorie allowance so you can treat yourself without feeling guilty about it.

As well as improving cardiovascular health and fitness, exercising is also good for the musculoskeletal system, making muscles more supple and toned, and improving the strength of bones and joints. People who do sports will be stronger and more able to lift and carry heavy things, which is also always useful, and they are less likely to become really weak and frail as they get older because their bodies are strong. Furthermore, doing sports can improve mental health as well as physical health, with exercise being helpful for people with depression and a range of other mental health issues, because it releases good chemicals into our brains. It also makes people feel better about their bodies, which can make them happier, and reduces the risk of eating disorders and crash dieting, as people make more sensible, healthy changes to their lifestyle.

Sports also allow people to develop personally. Social and communication skills can be learned and developed through sport. Teamwork, for example, is naturally learned through participating in team sports and games. Communication skills can really be honed, as they are at the center of any team’s success, and a lack of them leads to failure. Many people will also develop leadership skills through sport, often discovering abilities that they never knew they even had.

Many people’s self-esteem improves through sport as they discover things that they are good at and improve their body. Participating in any competitive sport also improves our ability to handle pressure and still perform well, as well as teaching us how to win and lose graciously. All in all, the fact that playing sport is good for us is completely undeniable, because it helps our minds and bodies, and ultimately means that we will be living longer, happier lives.

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Essay on Benefits of Sports

Students are often asked to write an essay on Benefits of Sports in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Benefits of Sports

Introduction.

Sports play a significant role in our lives. They are more than just games; they teach us important life lessons and have numerous benefits.

Physical Health

Engaging in sports helps maintain a healthy body. It strengthens muscles, improves heart health and boosts the immune system.

Mental Well-being

Sports also enhance mental health. They reduce stress, improve mood and promote better sleep.

Social Skills

Playing sports helps develop social skills. It encourages teamwork, cooperation, and communication with others.

In a nutshell, sports offer numerous benefits. They contribute to our physical health, mental well-being, and social skills.

250 Words Essay on Benefits of Sports

Sport, an integral part of human culture and society, is often viewed purely as a source of entertainment. However, it offers a multitude of benefits that extend well beyond the confines of a playing field or court.

Participation in sports contributes significantly to physical health. It helps maintain a healthy weight, combats health conditions and diseases, and promotes better sleep. Sports also enhance muscular strength, flexibility, and the efficiency of the heart and lungs, all contributing to improved physical health and well-being.

Sports also have a profound impact on mental health. They help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression by releasing endorphins that act as natural mood lifters. Furthermore, the focus and concentration required in sports enhance cognitive abilities, including problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Engaging in sports fosters social skills. Team sports, in particular, promote cooperation, communication, and empathy as individuals work towards a common goal. This interaction nurtures a sense of belonging and helps build strong social networks.

Life Skills

Sports instill valuable life skills. They teach discipline, time management, and responsibility. Additionally, dealing with wins and losses in sports develops resilience and the ability to cope with life’s ups and downs.

In conclusion, sports offer an array of benefits that impact physical health, mental well-being, social skills, and life skills. The multifaceted benefits of sports make them an essential component of a balanced, healthy lifestyle. Therefore, the importance of incorporating sports into daily life cannot be overstated.

500 Words Essay on Benefits of Sports

Sports, often considered a means of entertainment, play a far more significant role in our lives than we usually acknowledge. They are not just about winning medals or achieving personal bests; they are about character building, health enhancement, and fostering social connections. This essay aims to delve into the multifaceted benefits of sports, extending from the individual to societal level.

Physical Health Benefits

Engaging in sports is instrumental in maintaining physical health. Regular physical activity helps to control weight, combat health conditions and diseases, and improve overall bodily functions. It enhances cardiovascular fitness, builds strong bones and muscles, and boosts endurance. For instance, sports like swimming provide a full-body workout, improving heart and lung efficiency, while weight-bearing sports like running can increase bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Mental Health Benefits

Beyond physical health, sports can significantly influence mental well-being. Participating in sports has been linked to reduced levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. The reason is twofold: the release of endorphins during physical activity that generates feelings of happiness and relaxation, and the sense of accomplishment that comes with achieving a sporting goal. Furthermore, sports can enhance cognitive function, improving concentration, learning, and critical thinking skills.

Social Benefits

Sports also serve as a social platform, fostering a sense of community and belonging. Team sports, in particular, promote cooperation, communication, and understanding, essential skills not just on the field but in everyday life. They cultivate a sense of teamwork, teaching individuals the importance of working together towards a common goal.

Character Development

Character development is another significant benefit of sports. They teach essential life skills such as discipline, responsibility, self-confidence, sacrifice, and accountability. Sports offer a platform for learning how to deal with success and failure. They instill resilience, encouraging individuals to keep striving for their goals despite setbacks.

In conclusion, the benefits of sports are far-reaching and multifaceted. They contribute to the holistic development of an individual, improving physical and mental health, fostering social connections, and shaping character. In a world increasingly dominated by sedentary lifestyles and digital interactions, sports serve as a vital counterpoint, promoting well-being and community. While the competitive aspect of sports often takes the spotlight, the underlying benefits warrant equal, if not more, attention. As such, participation in sports should be encouraged, not just for the love of the game, but for the comprehensive benefits it brings to our lives.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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An Overview of Sport Facilities Management in Malaysia

• Conference paper
• First Online: 01 January 2014
• Cite this conference paper

• Milton Garaat 4 ,
• Abdul Hakim Mohammed 4 &
• Mat Naim Abdullah 4  

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Sport facilities are integral part for physical activity. Improper design and unavailability of these facilities restrict participation. The government of Malaysia has taken steps to construct and provide sport facilities throughout the country at district and state levels, while the private sector is focusing in the main cities. However, sport facilities require an excellent management team to successfully manage all operations involved, meet the demands of the public, and counter the problems that arise in sport facilities. Therefore, a review of literature was carried out to identify the problems related to sport facilities. Among of the problems that are highlighted in this paper include globalization that requires the manager to be more competitive, the grand vision of the Malaysia Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak to construct world-class sports stadiums, financial problems, and lack of skilled staff and administrative professionals. This paper provides an overview of the current situation in the management of Malaysia’s sports facilities.

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Faculty of Geoinformation and Real Estate, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Milton Garaat, Abdul Hakim Mohammed & Mat Naim Abdullah

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Garaat, M., Mohammed, A.H., Abdullah, M.N. (2014). An Overview of Sport Facilities Management in Malaysia. In: Adnan, R., Ismail, S., Sulaiman, N. (eds) Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Sports Science, Exercise, Engineering and Technology 2014 (ICoSSEET 2014). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-107-7_56

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Types of Sports — Playing Sports: The Importance

Playing Sports: The Importance

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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Physical health benefits, mental and emotional well-being, social benefits, educational and cognitive development.

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