Formal and Informal Norms in Sports
Within our society we have a various amount of familiar an unfamiliar place with formal and informal norms. For example, on a soccer field. You would think that on a soccer field everything is just based off rules specifically set to the game but, you don’t realize what happens outside of those rules. For instance, when a simple soccer ball is accidentally kicked outside of the field, they are just thrown another ball. Another example is cheering. When a goal is scored or almost scored you can hear everyone cheering on their team. No law says we must do it, but everyone does it anyway. A lot of people record the games and cheer on their friends or family whom are playing in the game.
Also, players are known to be switched in and out of the game a lot but not the goal keeper. It isn’t a rule to switch out a bunch of players during the game but if the coach feels it is necessary then players swap but the goal keeper seems to stay mostly the same person for the whole game. Many people wonder as to why this is. There is not rule that says the goal keeper needs to be swapped out; if the goalkeeper is swapped out then it could substantially ruin the flow of the game. During the times when players are running with the ball and kicking it from player to player, there could potentially be pushing and shoving purposely for a certain reason and the referee must be involved in the situation. As a rule, the referee has all authority of the game. If a player talks back or does something wrong, it could also lead to a penalty or something called an infraction. Although soccer games have a lot of unspoken rules, they also tend to have a lot of known and written rules. Nevertheless, these are the types of rules that everyone knows within the game whether you are a player or a bystander just sitting and watching the game.
A soccer game must only have two teams. On these teams they have a certain number of players and they cannot exceed that amount, and that includes the goalkeeper. Unless you are the goalkeeper you may not touch the ball with your hands. During the game you’ll see players running after the ball if it is in the hair and they will lift their foot to catch or slow down the ball. Sometime in some situations they jump up and hit the ball with their head and it bounces off to the nearest player to them. At some point in time they will have something called “half time.” This is when they switch places and the team scoring on the left is now scoring on the right and vice versa. Then after about fifteen minutes or so, the game is resumed. If a player does something wrong in the game they can have “consequences” that are called infractions or penalties.
Norms in the City
Soccer games have more of a homely, and safe feeling and an upbringing tone to it. Unlike the Manhattan. The city has a vaguer feeling. There are so many people yet feels so empty. Sure, friends and family can join you on your journey throughout the city, but you always must watch where you are and who is around you. In the city, that is a big informal norm for everyone. Its not a law that you must watch out where you are or hold on onto your purse or bag tightly it’s just something people do on the daily. In Manhattan, it has an entirely different feeling than it feels as per to a soccer game. People there can be very rude and nasty; they push, they shove, and they don’t care who you are if they get to the place they need to be they can even hop into your taxi and drive off. That is a normal thing down in Manhattan and traveling to other places around the world you wouldn’t believe how nice people really are in other spots. The city always tends to be busy with people texting and taking pictures and eating and going out late at night. It is a city that never sleeps and there are no rules saying you must do these things, you just do. However, formal norms are a big thing as well. Some of these formal norms that people take upon are jaywalking, littering, drugs, and more. These are rules that have consequences to them, yet people still take it upon themselves to do it anyways. Of course, there are actions that are pressed on some people, but since not a lot of people get punished for it, that is just a few things that happen daily.
Norms and Culture
No matter where we are there will always be formal and informal norms all around us. There will be different tones and feelings in each spot. Some in which we are familiar with and some that we are not. Sitting down and acknowledging these norms that happen all around us make us realize what rules and not rules we already have set. Without knowing we blend into following in the steps of these norms because it is normal in our “culture” to do these actions that we do, even if it is as simple as opening the door for someone. Nobody says that we must do it, it is just a normal habit for us.
