You consider yourself an athlete. Maybe you’re thinking about considering yourself one. Or perhaps you just want to be one, someday.

That’s good, and you’re more than welcome.

But why do you want to do sport?

Many of us athletes, or those that want to be, spend considerable time and energy on improving our technique, tactics, and equipment, training methods and competition planning. We work hard to become better at what we do, or want to do. But how many of us actually reflect on why we are doing it?

When we consider why we do sports, we can better understand how to do them.

Whether you have been an athlete your entire life, or whether you’re about to take your first steps to becoming one, you need to ask yourself the question: why do I do sport? Every day you should think about it, rationalize it, and problematize it. If you don’t have this discussion – with yourself, and with other athletes – then you risk becoming something else. And sport risks becoming something else. After all, sport is only as authentic as the athletes that do it, and only as purposeful as the reasons we give for it.

This place is designed to help you in that important discussion. It will help you arrive at a personal philosophy, and your place in this revered society. For some it might be a short, clear journey; for others a lifetime of self-examination. Whatever the time, place, or situation, see this forum of peers as your searchlight. It won’t give you the answers, but it will help you while you’re looking for them.

Look around, read the postulates and the entries in the weight room, join the discussion, and learn how to contribute.