Competition is a part of everyday life as a human. People compete for resources to survive, for jobs, for relationships, etc. The most well-known place people compete is in sport. Dr. Brian Zuleger, assistant professor of human performance and physical education, will speak on the importance of competition in sports during the first Adams State University Faculty Lecture of the fall semester. Why Do We Compete? A Return to the Olympic Ideal begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, in Porter Hall room 130.
This presentation will dive into the origins of competition in sport and make a case for the need to return to those origins in an attempt to improve sport and society. Competition in modern sport has taken on a negative context. So much so that many youth sport programs started adopting an "everyone gets a trophy" model some years ago because the "competition" was becoming too cutthroat. For many people competing has become all about winning. The true definition of competing is more about pushing one’s self in a pursuit of personal improvement and the competition presents an opportunity to challenge oneself in that process. There will be examples provided from the presenter’s vast experience working and researching in competitive sport (youth to Olympic level) and from the recent Olympics that highlight how a return to the Olympic ideal of competition can improve sport and society. The presentation format will allow opportunity for discussion and question-and-answer in an interactive format.
All ASU Faculty Lectures in the series are free and open to the public. Complimentary light refreshments will be offered. For further information on the series of lectures, contact Dr. Kristy Duran, associate professor of biology, at 719-587-7767, or klduran@adams.edu.
