There are many metanarratives in terms of sports one that comes to mind is a assumption that if you play sports you possess a level of fitness as well. There is a natural assumption that athletes are fit or healthy. While this can be true in some cases, many even profession athletes are quite the opposite.

But being aware of these assumptions and metanarratives is especially important, I would argue, because of the centrality of sport to our everyday lives, the role that sport plays in shaping our childhood and worldviews and.. its very ability to be able to adjust our sense of self so profoundly. These narratives when better understood can then help to place the power back on the individual. The idea that any of these things are only plausible within an ideal society.

Sports are an amazing way to empower students. The schools system and community athletics play a crucial role in forging positive identity development as well as ability to encourage social opportunities. In these situations sports can be utilized to teach children valuable skills such as emotional or self regulation. Sports are required to have a specific set of rules and regulations that are learned, they often also come with team building exercises that allow you to get to know your team mates. In these ways children not only have to be able to adapt and learn the new skill, but they then help to teach their teammates as well. The commentary provided during these situations also provides children with a way to reflect and critically think about their next moves. 

An example of this would be within my children’s elementary school. My daughter was having trouble controlling her feelings and became overwhelmed very easily she often used phrases like “ no one likes me” and “I am just not good at anything”. She was placed into a group they dubbed Active club where students in similar situation to hers would spend time learning the rules to a game for example basketball. They would then later come back to teach another group of students what they had learned. The second meeting created this unique opportunity to have to work together in a social situation where the students are the primary force. This experience greatly strengthens their emotional development and aid in forging relationships. 

Within the article A social justice agenda:Moving beyond deficit thinking the authors explain the  implications or backward thinking of the bodies-at risk discourse. The article is based on an American standpoint in terms of health forums that are created in order to target a population to which they have deemed to be most at risk(Harrison et al., 2021). The issue they are addressing is that the population that they believe to be least healthy includes people of various ethnic backgrounds, Indigenous peoples, women, people with disabilities, and people experiencing poverty excluding the white male middle or upper class majority (Harrison et al., 2021).  The continued inability to see health disparities from a social justice perspective only furthers this divide and continues to promote what they call the “master narrative” or the superiority of the majority class(Harrison et al., 2021).  The importance of changing this point of view to instead incorporate the viewpoint of these minority groups is crucial in developing a socially just platform (Harrison et al., 2021). Without taking these views into consideration the health gap can not fully be addressed, and lacks the full ability to be able to empower people to create any real meaningful change(Harrison et al., 2021). 

Harrison, L., Azzarito, L., & Hodge, S. (2021). Social Justice in kinesiology, health, and disability. Quest, 73(3), 225–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2021.1944231

Feminism to me is more in keeping with a liberal view point. I think that feminism is women working together to reach a common goal. That fight to ensure that women can have the ability to make choices for themselves regardless of what that may look like. I think that it is the equality of the sexes in terms of economic gain, political rights, and social hierarchy. In this way it is important to show the vast amount of abilities that women can yield, and work together to change the mindset of people who view women as an inferior species.