In an attempt to promote sports and connect youth, five innovative combinations of existing and emerging sports have been included in the most awaited Tokyo Olympics 2020. The new events that have gained entry to the list are baseball/softball, karate, skateboard, sports climbing and surfing. The organizers mention that the foremost motive for addition of newer sporting events is to bring about innovation, flexibility and encourage active youth participation.
In the present era, youth have ample opportunities to engage themselves. Inclusion of the newer games is a step to encourage a gadget free sporting culture and building a better world through sports. A healthy population that connects to each other can contribute to the progress and prosperity of a nation. The newer sports provide an opportunity to compete at the world’s greatest sporting event alongside inspiring them to achieve their best in terms of sport and connecting them to each other, both socially and culturally for building stronger human relationships.
Sport not only includes all forms of physical activity or a casual or organised participation intended for physical fitness but mental well-being, and promotion of social relationships. Sports include diverse games such as chess & football which cater to suit diverse tastes and temperaments offering to hook up a larger population.
Youngsters are full of ambitions & hopes and important drivers of social & cultural reforms. During the formative years as they develop their identities, they insist on enduring experiences and memories to form their own opinions. They have their own language, codes and ways of communicating and offering solutions to newer challenges. They are ambassadors of change with progressive outlook and firm mindset. Sensitizing them with an out sized perspective is possible only through sports.
Sport is one universal element that encompasses people from all walks of life under a single umbrella, particularly youth. It is an exceptional platform for social interaction, exchange of thoughts, refining skill sets and enriching knowledge. The never-ending conversation among people interested in a particular sport forms an unusual connect and an attitude necessary for civil reforms.
Sports boost the socio- cultural connects among people by bringing together people beyond barriers of caste, race, language and nationality, to give up their differences and engage in dialogue for the betterment of humankind. Various organisations such as ‘Sport without borders’, formed by a group of athletes from varied sports are striving hard for the social cause ‘right to play for children’ irrespective of their socio-economic status and bring about equality.
Ultimately, although we human beings belong to diverse cultures, communicate in different languages, follow different religions but our needs are alike, each one of us deserves respect and dignity which is the basic human right. Sport is one finite way of achieving equality and global solidarity.
