No Discrimination with Sports Acrobatics

Sports acrobatics should be an Olympic sport because it accepts many different people. Many people believe that sports acrobatics only require fit and slim bodies. This statement is not true at all because “this sport is a partner sport requiring athletes of all ages, shapes, and sizes” ("What is Acrobatics" 3). In acrobatics having a big solid base is extremely important because they are sturdy to hold and lift their partners. This sport can get every type of athlete involved to live a healthy life.

            Many sports in the Olympics have regulations depending on height, weight, and age, but sports acrobatics includes everyone. For example, track runners are tall with extremely long legs, which they have an advantage over the other runners. But in sports acrobatics there are many advantages of being tall, short, skinny, and husky. A very popular sport in the Olympics is gymnastics. The global image of a gymnast is a woman under five feet and fewer than ninety pounds. Many gymnasts go on diet to acquire the perfect lean body, which many of them are already have. “Gymnasts are especially vulnerable to eating disorders”(Hoffman 1) because they want to maintain the perfect gymnast physique. Sports acrobatics should be an Olympic sport because it accepts all body images.

            From my own experiences, my coach would accept everyone who wanted to participate in acrobatics. In the gym there were heavy girls that would practice daily. My coach would never discriminate them about their weight or tell them they need to be on a diet. He was very supportive and would place them in groups where he felt they would succeed the most. Many times out in public my coach would recruit people to come to try out sports acrobatics. Many times he would ask parents with children to try the sport. In the gym we even had parents with children that competed. I love how this sport never turns away any athletes because of their figure or age.

Also sports acrobatics raises self-esteem for acro athletes. Acro athletes have a very high self-esteem because they know how important they are within the group. "They each have their own job, but they have to work together or they will accomplish absolutely nothing (Ouellette 15)." Each partner has a specific task during each skill and has their partner/partners relying on them. In the sport of gymnastics the gymnasts have difficulty with their self-esteem. Gymnasts are toughly judged on their performance and they always feel the blame since they are the only one out on the apparatus. Sports acrobatics athletes that have a high self-esteem will be more confident in with them and be more opened to try new things. Sports acrobatics should be implemented into the Olympics because it accepts all body images and gives athletes a high self-esteem.

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Works Cited:

"The Effects of Gymnastics on Teen Behavior." Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

Olsen, Kirsten. "2 Marylanders Find an Unusual Answer; the Uncommon Sport of Acrobatics Provides the Life Style they Sought." The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext): 0. Jan 07 1988. ProQuest. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.