Twentieth Century

Question 1

How social class factors influence sport?

Answer 1

• Middle class had more free time to participate in sport, e.g. golf.
• More money for the middle class to participate in sports such as skiing and joining golf clubs.
• Working class had less money, couldn’t peruse expensive pastimes.
• Professionalism associated with the working class, e.g. football.
• Middle / Upper class associated with public schools. Dominated school competitions
• Sport divided by social class. e.g. working = football / upper = tennis.
• Amateurism dominated by middle class. e.g. rugby union.

Question 2

What was gender link in 20th century?

Answer 2

War allowed women the opportunity to get into the paid labour market.
Women were taking on new roles away from traditional housekeeping and mothers roles, previously expected of them.
They were now:
> looking after evacuees
> working in factories
> driving huge vehicles
> agricultural duties
> miners (in absence of their husband)
> civil servants

After the wars, women would be expects to get to their former roles

Question 3

What was amateur and professionalism in 20th century?

Answer 3

• most sports remained central to drinking environments
• horse racing and boxing were skill active activities, the upper/middle class putting up the money and lower class taking part.
• working class men and women had less time for sport than upper/middle class.
• participation for women in physical recreation activities had fallen in 1900, particularly working class.
• clubs could afford to pay players as football/rugby had become something people watched as well as played.
• cup and league comps involved town and area rivalries, which gave added purpose and excitement to sports matches
• payment for watching sports was introduced w/ the introduction of purpose built grounds. Spectatorism started to feature w/ more people watching
• working class women were excluded from professional sport by the constraints of both time and money