Contact sports - What needs to be done.

Sport is an interesting part of human engagement. The benefits of sport range from aiding a healthy lifestyle to entertainment for sport lovers. This is in addition to the fact it provides jobs for millions globally.

Sports are very diverse. For the little that I know about sports, I know categories such as ball games, track events, WWE, and many others. In all of these sports, different measures are put in place by the regulators to advance the course of safety.

Some of these sports have minimal contact between contenders. In this category are sports such as indoor games, track events, and the like.

The other category that involves physical contacts by the players is football, WWE, rugby, etc. The safety of the players in this category is always a source of concern. The regulators are always amending the rules of the games to reduce injuries to the barest minimum, if not totally eradicated. I dislike two people hurting each other physically in the name of sport. Due to this reason, I don't watch WWE or any other sport in its family. The other reason for disliking is the danger of having kids practice at home and inflict injuries on themselves.

I remember when I was a kid. I loved watching wrestling. Each time my friend and I were alone at home, we began to try out some moves that we watched on the television earlier. At the end of the day, we either injure ourselves or we get something spoilt in the house. I later disliked the sport because of this experience, and I do everything today to prevent an underage from gaining access to watching these games. I hope the law guiding access to these raw games is worked upon. It should be tightly regulated so that only the appropriate age has access to watch the game.

Source

Considering other games like football, which I love, a lot has been done to maintain safety. And a lot is still being done. Football, despite being a contact game, is one that is appealing to all age brackets. When I was a kid, I played football a lot. In those days, we mimicked the way referees officiate standard matches. We would cut yellow and red cardboard paper into small rectangles to represent yellow card and red card, respectively. This regulation goes a long way toward making the sport safe for the players.

In the current dispensation, a lot of improvements have been carried out. This includes the video assistance referee, VAR. The role of VAR is not only about officiating the game fairly but also to prevent the players from rough handling themselves in the field of play.

However, there is room for improvement. One thing is to have adequate rules and regulations, and another thing is to put machinery in place to compel everyone to follow the rules and regulations. A lot more needs to be done in making players and officials follow the rules. Adequate sanctions should be in place to deal with those that refuse to follow the rules.

Across all the games that involve physical contact, the wearing of protective uniforms should continuously be advocated and improved upon.

As good as these sports are to the players and viewers, the safety of those involved shouldn't be compromised.