Sledging in Sport—Playful Banter, or Mean-spirited Insults? A Study of Sledging’s Place in Play

Abstract

Sledging, or ‘trash talk’ or ‘chirping’, as it’s known in other parts of the world, has long been part of competitive sport. However, more recent times have seen the issue of sledging, and its place in sport, debated with many athletes, fans and academics arguing that sledging has moved outside the notion of ‘sportsmanship’ and gone beyond light hearted, good natured banter. They argue it is now characterized as hurtful, insulting, offensive and intimidating – a tactic that has moved beyond fair play and, in many instances, no longer acceptable. This paper seeks to explore this issue in greater depth. In particular, this paper seeks to ask, ‘is sledging part of play, or is it a characteristic of play’s corruption?’ The argument proceeds by adopting a conception of play grounded in the work of Johan Huizinga. Play may be understood as a core component of even professional sport, not least in that play lies at the moral core of the ‘spirit of sport’ in fairplay and respect for one’s opponents. Using examples to illuminate the changing nature of play and sledging, it will be argued that sledging in its modern form leads to the corruption of this ‘spirit of sport’. The insights of sports and philosophy academics and scholars are drawn upon, as are the insights of surveyed sports fans and amateur athletes who highlight their views on sledging and its place in modern sport. By doing so, sledging’s role in sport and its most dominant characteristics, according to those to watch professional sport and play at the community level, become clear, helping to articulate the difference between a form of sledging that is still playful and a part of play, and sledging that is characteristic of play’s corruption.

Keywords:

• Sledging
• play
• sport
• trash talk
• Huizinga

Notes

1. For a more in depth analysis of play theorists and their critique of Huizinga see: Caillois (2006), Sutton-Smith (1997) and Hans (1981).

2. The range of ‘sledging topics’ presented to the survey respondents included: race, gender, sexuality, religion, political allegiance, mental health issues, issues about family members/relatives, physical features (e.g. weight, height, hair colour etc.), disability/health issues, income/wealth, on-field performance, occupation and issues relating to the game (e.g. the score, team colours, mascot etc.).