Occupational therapy is an allied health profession, which centres on an individual’s aptitude to live everyday life. Occupational therapy is concerned with all the activities that occupy people’s time and give meaning to their lives. Occupations are embedded in everyday life, and the complexity of occupational therapy is often overlooked. An occupational therapist usually focuses on the “occupations” individual do daily as well as provide therapeutic interventions to help individuals to engage in meaningful and important daily occupations. Therapists are skilled in analyzing daily activities and tasks and construct therapy programs to enable an individual to participate more satisfactorily in daily occupations. In this paper, we will discuss the occupation of playing football.
Occupation
According to the American Occupation Therapy Association (AOTA) (2014, 1), occupation refers to any meaningful task or activity which an individual engages to “occupy” an individual’s time. Depending on one’s values, beliefs, context, and environment, this occupation can be purposeful, task-oriented, goal-oriented, individually tailored, role-specific, and community oriented. There are numerous types of occupation, but in this paper, the occupation of playing football will be covered.
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Football is a game composed of two teams of 11 players who use their body, except arms and hands, to maneuver a ball into the goal of the opposition team. In this game, only the goalkeeper is permitted to handle the ball but the goalkeeper should be within the penalty area when handling the ball. For a team to be crowned a winner, it has to score more goals than the opposition team. In terms of participants and spectators, football is the world’s most popular ball game. Though it can be challenging, engaging in football is very good, especially for the health and mental development of a person. Personally, I have been engaging in football since childhood. As a child, I used to play football with my peers in the school setting and outside school settings. I have continued playing football since then for pleasure throughout my adult life, though the frequency has reduced due to other commitments. However, I am considering attending football classes to develop my skills to play professional football.
Occupational Science
Occupational science is a separate, academic discipline connected to occupational therapy. Occupational science refers to the study of human participation/occupation. Occupational scientists study the way of measuring participation, develop programs and innovative methods to help people engage in their daily tasks, and examine the impact of participation on one’s health and well-being. There are numerous concepts within occupational science which are discussed below in relation to my occupation of playing football.
Form
Nelson (1998) defines form as a “pre-existing structure that elicits, guides, or structures subsequent human performance.” The occupational form has two dimensions: the physical and the sociocultural dimension. The physical dimension is composed of the object and their properties, the environment, and the human aspects while the sociocultural dimension is composed of the language, symbols, norms, roles, and sanctions. The form of football has changed significantly since the game started. During the early days of football, people would use anything even slightly round, including a hog’s head, a bundle of cloth, or a human skull as the ball. Since them, football ball has undergone modifications to perfect its design. Also, nowadays players have to be fitter as they cover more distance compared to a few decades ago. The rules of the game have also changed with the introduction of Financial Fair Play rules, VAR technology, and other regulations.
Function
From the perspective of occupational therapy, function refers to the “contributions of occupation to human development, health, or quality of life” (Morrison, Gomez, Henny, Tapia, & Rueda, 2017, Np). Technological advances of modern society have contributed to a sedentary lifestyle that has changed the phenotype of children as well as adults from that of two decades ago. Compared to the earlier generations, children today weigh more and are more obese because of their failure to engage in vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activities. Playing football regularly promotes growth and development. Specifically, playing football reduces the risks of heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome.
Meaning
From the perspective of occupational therapy, meaning refers to the “subjective experience of participating in an occupation, which is constructed symbolically within a culture” (Morrison, Gomez, Henny, Tapia, & Rueda, 2017, Np). Football players ought to have perceptual skills when playing soccer. As a football player, I can recall and recognize patterns of play more effectively than other individuals who are less skilled. This ability to encode, retrieve as well as recognize sport-specific information is as a result of complex and discrimination long-term memory structure and is very important to anticipation in football. In order for players to fulfill their physical and technical potential, they need to have a high level of cognitive skill. These skills can be enhanced through training sessions of both physical components and neural pathways.
Football dreams are symbols of strength, spirit, and passion. These may also relate to defeat, failure, and opponents. Playing football may be related to different roles in life. The way an individual deals with his or her life explains the sense of spirit in which the individual plays the football in his or her dream. A football dream may be a sign of an individual’s nature to win or lose.
Environment
Spaces are the physical contexts in which occupations take place. The physical space of an occupation is normally arranged in specific and unique ways to serve their purpose and to influence what the participants do with them. The physical environment of football includes the football stadium, football jerseys, football boots, football ball, and pump ball. The social environment of occupation is composed of a collection of people who come together for various formal and informal purposes. The social environment involves interactions with co-players, friends, spectators, coaches, and medical staff. As a footballer, I normally interact with my colleagues and coach who help me improve my game and skills. My colleagues are supportive of my football career. Culture and sport are both human rights, and footballers are important drivers of cultural change. Through playing football and interaction with players from different cultures, I have developed my ways of perceiving, appreciating, and distinguishing issues.
Occupational Risk
From the perspective of occupational therapy, occupational risk refers to the potential risks to life or functioning of a person that is inherently associated with his work environment or occupation. Some of these occupational risks may lead to the loss of functionality, contraction of the disease, or death through an accident. There are numerous time I can recall where I was not able to carry on playing football. During my childhood I broke my wrist and was unable to have the strength to run and play football. There was also a time I sustained a head injury after colliding with an opponent. These risks disrupted my occupation.
Occupational Flow
Occupational flow is defined as, “A positive feeling that occurs when there is a balance between perceived challenges and that person’s skills. It may include enjoyment, intense or complete involvement, deep concentration, or the loss of time” (Csiksentmihalyi & Csikszentimibalyi, 1988). Players are fully aware of their actions when playing football. The rules that govern football regulates the play to ensure continuity of the game. Referees are employed during a football match to ensure the play is smooth and penalize foul play. This ensures that both the players and spectators are involved and enjoy the game.
Relevant to Occupational Therapy
“The core values and attitudes of occupational therapy are organized around seven basic concepts-altruism, equality, freedom, justice, dignity, truth, and prudence” (Kanny, N.d, Par. 6). All these values and attitudes are relevant to the occupation of playing football. Footballers are concerned about the welfare of others. This is reflected in their actions and commitment. The profession also allows individuals to exercise freedom as well as demonstrate self-direction.
Health
From the perspective of occupational therapy, health is defined as the ability of an individual to adapt and to self-manage, in the face of social, physical, and emotional challenges. Occupational therapists mainly focus on the function and participation of an individual in his or her occupation. Football is a high-speed sport with a high incidence of injuries. The most common injuries associated with playing football include sprains and strains affecting mainly knee joints and ankle. Some of these injuries can result in enforced premature retirement.
Additionally, after retirement, severe injuries seem to be linked with osteoarthritis and mental health problems among professional footballers (Gouttenbarge, Inklaar, & Frins-Dresen, 2014, Par. 1). During my early childhood, I also sustained numerous head and knee injuries from playing football. Although football can help one develop physically and mentally, it can also cause severe health problems.
Wellbeing
There are four dimensions of an individual’s wellbeing: physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, social wellbeing, and community wellbeing. The four dimensions of individual wellbeing mentioned above can be described occupationally (Wilcock, 2006, 18). There are five ways to well-being; to connect with family and colleagues, to be active, to take notice, to keep learning, and to give. When players are injured, they can be isolated for huge amounts of time. Football can be a very lonely and isolating place (Diss, 2019). Football players might be away from family and colleagues, and mostly this is not great for mental health and wellbeing. There was a time I suffered emotionally after being dropped from the squad team. I found it difficult to cope with this, and it was very challenging for me. However, I chose to be supportive instead of being reactive and I was able to get back to the squad after some weeks.
Skills Required
Football is a sport, unlike almost all others, as footwork is needed most. In order to play football, several fundamental skills are required, with professional footballers able to sharpen their fundamental skills for more complex as well as precise dribbling, passing, and shooting. The skills of a football player vary from one position to another, with a field player needing many different skills than a goalkeeper. Power, speed, and agility are the fundamental skills that a football player needs. These skills can be boosted through various cardio and strength-training drills. The different ways a player can contact a ball include dribbling, passing, shielding, trapping, tackling, shooting, and goalkeeping. To develop these skills, a player needs to practice these contact movements with a co-player or play football.
Conclusion
Football is one of the most popular professional sports in the world. I had an interest in playing football since I was a child. I took part in local teams and clubs where I developed my skills. Football is a sport, unlike almost all others, as footwork is needed most. Several fundamental skills are required in order to play football, with professional footballers able to sharpen their fundamental skills for more complex as well as precise dribbling, passing, and shooting. As an occupation, playing football is very good for physical fitness and mental development. However, one can get minor or severe injuries from playing football which can affect one’s health as well as physical ability.
References
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CDC. 2012. Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance: United States, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 61(4), 1-162.
Csikszentmihalyi, M, & Csikszentmihalyi, I. 1988. Optimal flow experience: Psychological studies in flow in consciousness. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Diss, S. 2019. Why is the Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing of Football Players so Under-Researched? [Online]. Available at: https://mundialmag.com/blogs/gazzetta/football-mental-health-emotional-wellbeing-university-liverpool-on-the-head . Accessed 4 th May 2019.
Gouttebarge, V., Inklaar, H., & Frings-Dresen, MHW. Risk and consequences of osteoarthritis after a professional football career: a systematic review of the recent literature. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2014 May 14. PMID:24823470 [Epub ahead of print].
Kanny, E. N.d. Core Values and Attitudes of Occupational Therapy Practice (1993). [Online]. Available at: https://www.pacificu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/8-Core%20Values.pdf . Accessed 4 th May 2019.
Morrison, R., Gomez, S., Henny, E., Tapia, M., & Rueda, L. 2017. Review Article: Principle Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupation Therapy (2001-2012). Occupational Therapy International. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/5413628 . Accessed 4 th May 2019.
Nelson, D. 1998. Occupation: Form and Performance. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 42(10), 633-641.
Wilcock, A. 2006. An Occupational Perspective of Health. Thorofare, NJ: Slack Incorporated.
