Introduction
A sport is usually an essential activity that is planned, requires mental and physical skills and competence, and has some aspects of entertainment and competition. There are usually certain rules and regulations that govern specific sports and must strictly be followed. The sports industry has developed to great heights and various sports have come up some of which have been included in the Olympic Games while others have not. Olympic Games is a very essential body that has played a great role in the development of sports and events related to sports by serving as a model in regard to structure and organization of sports (Masterman, 2009).
Sport List
According to Ivy (2008) the summer Olympic games include; Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Field hockey, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Synchronized swim,Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, and Wrestling. Some of the summer sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but not included in the Olympic games are; Air sports, Bandy, Billiards, Boules, Bowling, Bridge, Chess, Cricket, Dance Sport, Golf, Karate, Korfball, Life Saving, Motorcycle Racing, Mountaineering and Climbing, Netball, Orienteering, Pelota basque, Polo, Power boating, Racquetball, Roller Sports, Rugby, Squash, Sport climbing, Surfing, Sumo, Tug of War, Underwater Sports, Water Skiing, and Wushu.
Life Saving Sport
In the next summer Olympics, I would advocate for the inclusion of life saving as a sport. This is because I consider it unique due to the fact that it is very essential in saving mankind as the skills and knowledge learnt are applied for humanitarian as well as for competition purposes. It is a very challenging sport that incorporates athletic competence and lifesaving skills. There have been many cases worldwide where many people perish due to drowning as a result of the inability to save themselves or lack of adequate qualified personnel and equipment required for saving life.
Increased participation in the life saving sport would therefore equip more people with the skills and hence help improve the situation. There should be formation of clubs that encompass people of all ages so as to create more awareness on all aspects of drowning and other precautions to be adhered to reduce water related harms and injuries. It is a sport that emphasizes teamwork and leadership, fitness and entertainment. It helps keep young people involved in lifesaving and life guarding skills as part of swimming and in the long run, they become competent in life saving (Corsan, 2010).
Like any other sport, life saving improves ones health and fitness, enhance leadership skills, improve self esteem by increasing confidence, promote time-management skills and enhance relaxation hence avoiding stress and tension. It’s unique and the important aspect however is that of saving lives. The disadvantages associated with the life saving sport are that it is very demanding as it requires a lot of skills combination, for example, athletic and lifesaving skills. It also requires lots of equipment to facilitate the process and therefore its inclusion in the summer Olympic Games will necessitate an additional budget to the organizing and facilitating agents.
Conclusion
Sports are very important and should never be underemphasized due to the many benefits linked with them as discussed above. The diversity in the sports industry is an ideal aspect as it enhances participation of many people with different interests and capabilities and the Olympic Games should consider more diversification basing on the various positives effects of the different kinds of sports.
Reference List
Corsan, H.B. (2010). At Home in the Water – Swimming, Diving, Life Saving, Water Sports, Natatoriums. New York: Read Books.
Ivy, J. (2008). Olympic Sport List.
Masterman, G. (2009). Strategic Sports Event Management: Olympic Edition 2nd Ed. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann.