Sports in the United States play a large part in American society and culture. From American football, baseball, soccer, tennis, etc. America presents a large variety of sports captured from all over the world. Sports are entertaining and extremely popular, however, they also correspond with numerous community values and morals including teamwork, justice, and leadership.
Sports have always been a large part of my life. Ever since my childhood, I have been surrounded by sports. My parents made it a rule that my brother and I were obliged to play a sport throughout the whole year, starting at the age of 9. We were extremely lucky to have gotten the opportunity to do so. My parents felt that it was important for us to learn teamwork, competition, sportsmanship, courage, and hard work. I played sports intensively until I graduated high school and I feel that there could have been no better way to have taught me those principles. I am extremely lucky for having the opportunity to be a part of a team and gain the values and morals that I did. An additional way that sports impact my life has been spending Sundays with my family and friends watching Football. Almost every Sunday during my childhood was spent bonding with my family and friends as we would come together to watch an exciting competitive game. I looked forward to the Super Bowl every year as I knew it would be an even larger Sunday gathering with more friends and more excitement.
Many other countries are just as passionate about their sports as the US. While American football is the most popular sport in Northern America, soccer or football is the most popular sport in Europe. Some may say that European football fans are even more passionate than American football fans. Another large aspect of sports in the U.S is cheerleaders. Cheerleading is almost exclusively an American activity. People outside of the U.S have a difficult time understanding this concept as they do not have as many gaps and commercial breaks.
Thanks to this exercise I have been reminded to make sure to go to a European football game during my semester abroad. At home, I typically focus on football so this exercise has reminded me to go out and appreciate European sports culture. I am extremely excited to see the difference in the way fans in Europe and fans in Northern America act at their beloved sports games.