The Sport Ethic

As stated by Hughes and Coakley, "sport ethic refers to what many participants in sport have come to use as the criteria  for defining what it means to be a real athlete" (308).  A non-exhaustive, but informal list of the dimensions of sport ethic is: 1. Being an athlete involves making sacrifices for the game, 2. Being an athlete involves striving for distinction, 3. Being an athlete involves accepting risks and playing through pain, and  4. Being an athlete involves refusing to accept limits in the pursuit of possibility.
Exploring these dimensions on a deeper level reveal the heart of an athlete.  For example, an athlete is expected to make sacrifices of all kinds in order to meet the demands not only of the game itself, but of coaches, teammates, and family members.  An athlete is also expected to strive to be "swifter, higher, and stronger" through breaking records and exceeding others (Hughes and Coakley 109).  Competition is an inherent part of being an athlete.  An athlete does not accept injury or pain.  They are expected to push through the pain in order to achieve the other dimensions of the sports ethic. An athlete believes that in the realm of sport, anything is possible.  They are trained to not accept limitations without first trying to change them.
Athletes conform to the sports ethic because sports is run, measured, and evaluated by society.  To be an athlete means to conform to these ideas.  If an athlete performs according to the four dimensions stated above, the likelihood of 'making it' in the world of sports increases.
In my opinion, there are major psychological repercussions to these dimensions of the sport ethic. Striving for perfection could be a great motivator when held in the correct mindset.  However, when an athlete is held to one standard that the coach or audience views as 'perfect', the effort to become that perfection can be detrimental to the body and the mind.  Every one person has a different body that is capable of different activities.  If one person has the desire to be an athlete in a specific sport, but their body does not allow them to achieve this 'perfection' set by society, that person is inclined to alter their body physically (drug enhancements, eating disorders,etc.) and suffer mentally (self-degradation).  On the other hand, recognizing your bodies strengths and striving to perfect your abilities in that sense could be very beneficial.