History and Sports


Many history classes focus on the typical historical events and themes that have helped to shape society today. However, one aspect of society’s history that is often forgotten, that should be addressed in order to better understand society, is sports culture. The popular sports that the people in a particular society or culture favor are often reflective of certain values that are important to them. Additionally, sports can also give people a platform from which they can express their pride, freedom, and power. During international competitions national pride is often a factor that inspires athletes to work hard and defeat their opponents. There are also instances where international competitions have enabled athletes to come together and help demonstrate international cooperation. Sports history is valuable when studying about different cultures because it allows students of history to gain a more nuanced understanding of the world.

Incorporating sports into the study of a society’s history is not only valuable for learning about different people and cultures. Sports history can also help to get more students interested in learning history. One way that teachers can incorporate sports into their history classes is to use sports history as a chance to get students reading more nonfiction books. Nonfiction reading skills are of major importance in schools. State standards and national standards include nonfiction reading and require students to be able to both analyze and interpret nonfiction sources. However, it is often challenging to convince students to read nonfiction books, particularly on their own time. If you are a teacher who has students who like sports in your class, here are some great nonfiction books about sports figures and sports history to get them started.

The following books are a few ideas that would make great additions to a classroom library!

The Story of Baseball By Anastasia Suen (2002)

Jackie Robinson: Hero of Baseball By Carin T. Ford (2006)


Baseball Then to Wow! By Mark Bechtel (2016)








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