The days when sports fanaticism was the sole preserve of the testosterone-heavy members of the family are long gone. Today, it is more common to find entire families (including toddlers!) hurdled together in front of the TV screen on most weekends (and some weekdays), watching UK football, American football, Rugby, Cricket and even Tennis. Those that can afford to go to live games in person happily look forward to it on a near weekly basis. Why has this happened? Why are more families gravitating towards becoming sports fanatics?
Emotions
Memories, magical moments and bonds are some of the emotional factors that are common with watching sports. Going beyond the rivalries, statistics and scores, the memories created by watching sports as a family on TV or at the stadium last a life time. One good example of this is the UK football game between Southampton FC and Manchester United in the English Football League Cup Final played on the 27th of February 2017. For families supporting Southampton FC, that was the first opportunity to see their team in a major top flight final in more than 13 years. They lost the game but it was ultimately a great day out for many of the families who made the trip to the iconic Wembley Stadium. An even more emotional example is the Chicago Cubs winning the Major League Baseball World Series in 2016 after 108 years of waiting. The celebrations and tears of joy around homes and in the stadium, as “the curse was broken”, were properly documented.
Simplicity and Sense of Purpose
Whilst many people can’t understand the complexities surrounding some of the discussion-inducing niches like politics or economics, nearly everyone can understand what is going on within a sport at a glance (or with some quick explanation). It means that anyone that can understand the rules can quickly take sides. Secondly, supporting a team during a sporting event creates a common goal (which is to win the matchup).
Sense of belonging
We all want to feel the connection that comes with aligning with a larger group. What better way to do so than to join millions of people supporting a team, sharing colours and having the same “enemies”? This feeling has been made even more powerful with the rise of social media. Users have to live with millions of posts and thousands of threaded discussions when games are going on. Taking part in such discussions means supporting a team in the sport. The individual naturally starts by supporting the team favoured by family and friends in order to enjoy a quick connection. This is why a family with one UK football fan supporting Chelsea FC will most likely end up being a Chelsea FC family.
Benefits of Watching Sports as a Family
Bonding time
Watching sports together is an opportunity to unwind from the daily stress. The laughs, the anxiety and the outpouring of emotions make it a great bonding session for the family.
Teach a healthy lifestyle
Sports men and women are often some of the fittest people you will ever see. They can be used as an example to preach healthy living. This should be evident even with your game snacks options. Mom Fuse has healthy finger food recipes that will come in handy at this point.
Emphasise teamwork
This is perhaps the biggest benefit of watching sports as a family. Family members can see on a regular basis how the team is more important than an individual: a lesson that needs to be learnt in many families!
Learning how to take losses
Many people have been conditioned to believe that “doing your best equates to success”. Watching sports as a team will help dispel that notion as there will be any cases where the team will lose after doing everything possible to get a win. In the Southampton FC example given above, many fans and neutrals believe that they got the short end of the stick from match officials on the day. At the end, the Southampton FC team accepted the loss and congratulated the opponents with minimal fuss. Need to provide your children with a lesson on how to lose gracefully? Here is a good article.
How Can the Family Bounce Back after a Defeat While Watching Sports?
This is a major problem for families that watch sports together. Whilst some people have mastered the art of bottling up emotions, others are always on the verge of blowing their lid after a defeat. The atmosphere around the family after a defeat, therefore, needs management. Here are top tips that will help (especially when engaged in by one or more members of the family).
- Walk the dog at full time. It is a great way to blow off steam.
- Go for a quick session on the tread mill. It is a great way to relieve the mental pressure.
- Grab some food to eat. Even when not hungry, the feel good factor that comes with eating could be all you need to feel positive again.
- Find a distraction. Fire up Netflix or look through the TV for non-sport related content.
- Find something to laugh about. You could poke fun at someone. Laughter drastically reduces stress levels.
- Give yourself (and indeed everyone else) time to cool down after the defeat. It is not the time to moan about anything.
- Stay off social media. Going on social media following a defeat to your team will only add to the feeling of anger as you are bound to find discussions worth “tearing into”.
Watching sports is now a family affair. It is time to enjoy all the benefits, learn lessons and revel in the emotions.
