Goals of professional sports. How is professional sport different from amateur?

In the modern world, a lot of attention is paid to the society by various sports competitions. And the level of these tournaments can be completely different, from the championship of the city to the world championships and the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, despite the fascination of many people with physical culture and amateur competitions, it is still necessary to separate the performances of amateurs from the notion of "professional sport". The features of professionals and the differences between them and amateurs will be discussed in this article.

Common features

Professional and amateur sport at first glance seem to be the same: both there, and there are athletes, there are various performances, on which the winner is determined, remunerations are paid, titles and titles are awarded. Each of the people participating in the tournament necessarily strives to win, laying out to the maximum in training and completely giving himself up during the performance.

The Importance of Sport for Society

To date , sport in its basis has three dominant functions, namely:

• A bright and full output of negative emotions.
• A model for imitation of other people.
• Habit, ritual (it is meant, a hike after a working day, for example, in a fitness center or jogging on a stadium on a day off).

The fundamental difference

Initially, the very division of sports into professional and amateur meant that the first category included people giving themselves to the chosen direction completely, without a trace. At the same time, they receive for their speeches a monetary reward, which can be fixed or depend on the level of the athlete's achievements.

Amators are people who play sports for their own pleasure and do not aim to get money from this activity. Their performances do not bring income, and most of their lives they devote to the main work.

All of the above gives a basic idea to a person from what professional sport is different from amateur. However, it should be understood that these criteria are not exhaustive, so it is worth dwelling on the topic.

To the top!

As for the main purpose of professional sports, everything is very simple here - getting the maximum possible material profit. Any swimmer, boxer, racer, football player and many other representatives of sports "shops" ultimately strive to earn as much money as possible. And here, the age limit of professional sportsmen comes to the forefront, which forces them to earn themselves for the remaining days in a very short time (15-20 years). And all because those prohibitive loads, which are received by professionals, do not allow them to perform at a high level for a very long period of time.

Blurred edges

And yet, when considering the question of how professional sports differ from amateur ones, it is also important to know that, given the rapid flow of our life, the boundaries between these two areas of activity are becoming less clear. In many ways, this is due to a significant degree of commercialization of sports. It's no secret that today even small regional youth tournaments are held under the protectorate of various firms, companies, organizations, which often advertise themselves in this way, or receive tax benefits from young athletes through charitable assistance. It's hard to say whether it's bad or good, but the fact remains: practically no serious competition is ever held without trustees and sponsors. Well, it's not necessary to speak about professional competitions on this issue, as initially any duel, race, swim and other are paid by financial structures.

World elite

Professional sports are in a constant process of transformation, development and some structural changes. And although athletes inflict enormous damage on their health, their work does not remain without worthy reward. Especially high-paid are hockey players, basketball players, football players, boxers, racing car pilots and motorcycle racers. The income of these athletes can be estimated in tens, or even hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Strange as it may seem, the lion's share in their profits is not the prize money for the competitions won, but the percentage of advertising, in which they are often removed. After all, even a child knows that people like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Maria Sharapova and many others - persons whose media level is simply off scale. Different companies and companies are ready to conclude contracts with them, if only the stars of the world sports sky deign to wear their clothes, shoes, use their perfumes, shampoos, ride their cars.

Loss of amateur status

Professional sports - a world with fairly strict rules. So, for example, if the boxer has spent at least one round on professional rules, then the road to the amateur ring will be closed to him. In the same way, it happens in figure skating. The International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee tightly control all tournaments, and those athletes who began to act as professionals are categorically prohibited from performing at amateur championships.

It is worth mentioning that professional sports (track and field athletics and many other kinds) still imprint on a person. And here we are talking not only about his physical condition, but also psychological as well. Multi-month stages of preparations for various competitions make the athlete experience a great deal of stress, which can eventually lead to depression, apathy, or irritability and nervousness. It goes without saying that any athlete understands this perfectly and always tries to minimize the impact of both external and internal irritating and negative factors. And work in this direction is the main activity for many specialists (psychologists, trainers).