Impact of Professional Athletes &
Sports in the United States
Topic: Professional
Sports in the United States
Rationale
The United States is home to four
of the largest professional sports leagues in the world (NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB) and
some of the highest official contracts in existence. I feel that it would be
interesting to present a brief summary about each of the 4 major professional
leagues (as well as some of the leagues on the rise, such as indoor/outdoor
lacrosse), and propose the question about the impact that professional/college
athletes have on the youth.
Objectives
Students will understand:
·
Why American’s are so infatuated with
professional/college sports.
·
The impact that professional/college athletes
have on the youth.
Introduction/Inquiry
Question(s)
- What are your views of
professional sports in America?
- Why do you think
professional sports so popular in America/France?
- What sort of impact do
athletes have on the youth?
- Do you think that there
are more male/female athletes in the Olympics?
- Summer vs. Winter games?
- What sort of images do you
relate to professional American and French/European teams/clubs?
- Mascots?
Sequence of
Activities
- Introduction—Brief
outline/lecture introducing the four main professional leagues
- Popularity
- Audience
- Salaries
- Public Views
2. Discussion
- Transition high schoolàcollegeàprofessional
leagues;
i. Highlight
that only a small portion makes it to the pros…
ii. 59%
of high school football and basketball players believe they will get a college
scholarship
iii. 98%
of high school athletes never play collegiate sports of any kind at any level.
iv. Only
1 in 16,000 high school athletes attains a professional career in sports.
- Title IX/Gender Equality
i. Before
Title IX—Things were different. The primary physical activities for girls were
cheerleading and square-dancing. Only 1 in 27 girls played high school sports.
There were virtually no college scholarships for female athletes. And female
college athletes received only two percent of overall athletic budgets.
Closure/Assessment
- Writing Assignment(s) (1-2
paragraphs)
- Write about a pro athlete
and what you think they about them:
- How have they had a
positive/negative influence on you?
- Why do you like/dislike
them?
- Add a drawing or print
an image (if computers are available)
- Ask for a couple students
to share what they wrote with the class.
Extensions?
- Concept of Title IX/Gender
Equality
- Dad coaching girls HS
hockey for 10 years;
- MMGHHL
page
- http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=MMGHSHL&t=c&s=hockey&p=home
- American mascots—animals,
ethnicity, etc.
Materials/Resources
- Paper, pen/pencil
- Computers/Internet
(Images)
- Michigan Metro Girls High
School Hockey League Website
- http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=MMGHSHL&t=c&s=hockey&p=home
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