Overseas sport allows athletes to experience other cultures while challenging themselves on the field. Athletes learn valuable life skills that they can take with them beyond the game of sports.
International sports can also be used for diplomacy and peacebuilding. This practice is known as sports diplomacy. Various groups are involved in these initiatives including states, athletes and coaches, and fans.
Exposure to Different Styles of Play
Playing sports overseas is an amazing opportunity for young athletes to explore other cultures and take their game to the next level. They will have the chance to compete against different caliber athletes and experience a new style of play that will sharpen their technical abilities and enhance tactical awareness.
However, this can also be difficult for teams that are not used to playing in a particular way. For example, some research has shown that higher-ranked teams may impose their own playing style on a weaker team and force them to adapt their strategies in order to compete (Grehaigne et al., Citation2015).
For some American athletes who have earned a living playing professional sports abroad, the coronavirus pandemic has created uncertainty regarding future career opportunities. In addition, players often struggle to find jobs that offer competitive salaries and benefits similar to those available in the United States. This can make it challenging to maintain a healthy work-life balance and spend time with family.
Cultural Exchange
When athletes travel internationally to play sport, they are immersed in a different culture and learn about a new perspective on their sport and life. This can be very beneficial for an athlete’s career.
Sports can also be a platform for social change and can help alleviate tensions in regions where there are political or cultural conflicts. However, ensuring that sports remain accessible and inclusive to all can be crucial for unlocking their full potential as a tool for global cultural exchange.
Programs like the DISCUSS Coaching Exchange between China and the United States (DISCUSS) provide a framework to explore the role that sports can play in building cultural understanding through Sport for Development and Peace (SDP). This study assessed the impact of the program on Chinese coaches’ cultural awareness and understanding through a specific analysis of their experiences with U.S.-based soccer coaching. Ultimately, results revealed that participants’ experiences significantly changed their impressions of American culture and society.
Higher Levels of Competition
In order to compete at high levels of international sport, athletes must train rigorously. This includes specialized training sessions that focus on improving strength, agility, balance, flexibility, reaction time, and decision making. Athletes also engage in extensive research and practice to refine their technique. This combination of factors can lead to a significant increase in the level of competition for an athlete.
As the number of countries competing in elite sports has increased, so too has the competition to achieve success. This “Global Sporting Arms Race” has resulted in increased investment by states to improve their sporting models. This has led to a preference for quantitative analysis, with budgets and medals the most commonly used inputs and outputs.
This approach has been criticized as focusing on purely quantitative metrics, ignoring other factors that contribute to performance. Moreover, it does not address the impact of cultural and historical factors. In addition, it fails to recognize that a large portion of an athlete’s success is due to their early experience in the sport and that there are several ways that this can be improved.
Life Skills
Often called “life skills” by coaches and athletes alike, these are competencies that can help athletes not only thrive in their sport environment but also transfer those skills into other settings such as school or work. Moreover, life skills can help athletes become more resilient and adapt to risk and adversity in their lives (Newman et al., 2020).
Specifically, these skills can include communication and leadership. During an overseas trip, a coach may want to provide opportunities for the team to practice these abilities within a safe and supportive context. For example, the coach could have the team organize and participate in a community event to develop their leadership skills. Know more about sporting journeys at 해외스포츠중계.
Research on the topic of life skills gained through sport participation is limited, but there are several future directions for research that should be prioritized. These include the development of valid life skill measures, an exploration of program type differences, and evaluation research. Ultimately, this research can be used to improve the experiences of youth athletes through international sports and their transfer into other areas of their lives.