The article “If the Home Team Always Wins, is it Really a Sport?” Erin Taylor challenges the norm by raising the question of what society views as a sport. In 1903, the British – in an attempt to reduce violence and warfare – introduced the sport of cricket as a “substitute of ritualized warfare between tribes”. They believed the introduction of the sport would encourage the locals to drop the spears and settle differences through the sport.
Although the locals from the islands fell in love with the sport, they drastically changed a lot of the rules and the way the game is played. The Islanders mixed the sport with the rituals of warfare, which ultimately turned the game into a social event known as backyard cricket. Backyard Cricket has allowed tribes to gather and share their dances, international anthems as well as displaying their cultural identity through their uniforms.
Taylor points out that this no longer appears to be a sport, but rather a ritual used to bring the culture closer together. This reminds me of the soccer world cup, where people from all over the world gather in a similar way: dressed based on cultural practicalities, yelling chants, singing national anthems and sometimes even sharing some dances. Backyard cricket serves as an example of how the influence of culture can modify and shape an individual, or in this case a sport. Personalizing the sport to the culture allows their people to relate to one another eventually creating a sense of pride that brings them together, displaying the positive aspects of cultural influence.
What can you do with anthropology? 