Amateurism & Professionalism

Question 1

What were the amateur values

Answer 1

• manliness
• appreciating the value of health + fitness
• appreciating the value of rule-regulated activity
• high moral integrity

Question 2

Characteristics of a ‘gentleman amateur’

Answer 2

• being respected member of society
• belonging to the social elite, wealth + free time
• playing sport viewed as character building, training was frowned upon
• playing a range of sports
• playing sport to a high moral code e.g. humour in defeat, acceptance of rules/ref

Question 3

Compare gentleman amateur with working class professional

Answer 3

. Upper/ middle c vs working c
. Wealthy vs poor
. Free time vs little free time
. No desire to train/improve vs committed to training
. High morality (fair play) vs low morality (winning at all costs)

Question 4

Positive impacts of 19th Century professionalism on dev of sport

Answer 4

• broken time payments, working class were paid to play for their factory teams
• dedicated training = results improve = more rewards (payments)
• financial gain for working class

Question 5

Key features of the early 20th century armatures

Answer 5

. High status; in sport + society
. Controllers of sport; middle + upper class
. Top performers; middle class+ upper class
. Highly moral; sufficient income + leisure time for sport, received no payment, fair play + sportsmanship

Question 6

Key features of modern day amateurs

Answer 6

. Lower status
. Some high level but not professionals
. Blurring of amateur + pro distinctions (equal + based on merit)
. Performances at the top level open to all
. Some amateurs received finance to pay for training expenses

Question 7

The positive of modern-day amateurism

Answer 7

• codes of amateurism still evident in British sport (fair play)
• viewed positively and promoted in a number of ways (e.g. shaking hands prior and after)
• rugby union maintained their amateurism until late 20th Century and still have codes of conduct today e.g. calling the ref ‘sir’

Question 8

Factors responsible for growth of professionalism and increased status of pro performers in the 20th century -> modern day

Answer 8

. All classes can compete: no longer a social barrier to compete
. People now respected for their talents + efforts to reach the top
. High rewards through media + sponsorship
. More time to train (full time job) -> higher performance standard
. Celebrity status, generates large sums of money for the pros (e.g. large houses)
. Positive role models - motivate others to achieve professionalism
. Increase in commercialised sport + sponsorship of sport (money invested)
. More affordable travel -> more spectators watching pro games