When you are motivated to achieve something in sports or academics, there are usually two goals. They are learning goals and performance goals. Having a learning goal is the goal itself of increasing your knowledge and skills through learning. It means continuing to study or practice until you are satisfied, without worrying about what others think. Taken more broadly, learning and practicing are fun, so enjoying this is the purpose in itself. On the other hand, people with performance goals aim for things like results from learning and social evaluation. A performance goal of working hard to show that you are better than others places importance on recognizing that you are better than others through the results you obtain. Both of these motivations seem to be necessary. However, in sports, in order to achieve this goal, you need a place to play sports.
Sports have played the role of a place to learn social order. Sports have had an intermediary function of bringing children from various environments into contact with each other. Through these activities, we have provided opportunities to learn the importance of following rules and human relationships. However, a situation is emerging in which these opportunities are decreasing. In 2024, the monthly tuition fee for swimming lessons in Tokyo’s wards increased by nearly 2,000 yen. A woman in her 40s from Hyogo Prefecture, a mother of two children, was troubled by the fact that “the more sports they play, the more money it costs.” What has become apparent here is the “sports gap” between children due to their family’s economic environment. A situation has been created in which only families with financial means can enjoy sports.
From the perspective of enjoying sports, the gap is also widening in the sports people watch. In 2024, the number of spectators at professional baseball and J-League games reached an all-time high. Behind this record of record-high attendance, teenagers were increasingly turning away from sports. In the past, watching sports was affordable with a child’s pocket money, but in recent years, the cost of watching sports has increased, creating a situation in which it is difficult to watch. In addition, as sports broadcasting has become more and more paid, we have heard voices from both adults and children that they have moved away from watching sports. DAZN, a sports video streaming service, will increase the basic plan fee to 4,200 yen per month in 2024. This 4,200 yen price has more than doubled in three years. In this situation, in order to enjoy sports, it is important to focus on learning goals. It seems that the key is to enjoy sports and improve your skills to the best of your ability.
