AN OVERVIEW OF THE RECIPROCATING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPORT AND RELIGION

Religion and sport are two major institutions that compose the social landscapes in the lives of many. Eitzen and Sage (1997) proposed that religious values are inherent in sport ideology. In this sense, “sport embodies religious values including character development, hard work, and perseverance, and, like relig-ion, it promotes and inculcates these qualities and behaviors, ” (Bryant and McElroy, 1997, p. 55)