Competition,Cooperation,and Fair Play

Abstract

Sport in America is receiving much criticism for its emphasis on competition, which is blamed for encouraging dishonesty, violence, and dehumanization. Some critics suggest the elimination of athletics and replacement with cooperatively struc tured activities as a solution. In effect, competition and cooperation are being seen as opposites. However, this article analyzes competition and cooperation as separate social processes and points out that they are not opposites, but each is necessary for meaningful sport experiences. In addition, competition without cooperation is shown to result in conflict, leading to the problems described above. Based upon this anal ysis, it is suggested that competition and cooperation share a symbiotic relationship which must remain intact for fairplay to occur. Fairplay is thus described as resulting from a balanced emphasis on competition and cooperation. Pratical suggestions for maintaining this balance then illustrate its applicability to current sport programs.

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