ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an existing work on physical culture in South African society. It presents cultural and social interpretations of issues relating to physical culture participation by Black South Africans. The chapter explores the unfolding of British physical culture values and practices at a local level within an African context. Physical culture also assists researchers in understanding how people viewed “race” in the past. Back in Cape Town, physical culture was a reality in Colored community life, and media reports appeared about Colored people in the Soviet Physical Culture Parade in Moscow. Governments realized physical culture’s political potential, and the USA and USSR became engaged in a sporting war fought on ersatz “battlefields” comprised of soccer pitches, track fields, and hockey arenas, among other venues. Sport and physical culture influences on individuals are often shaped through home and formal school experiences. The chapter illustrates the interconnectedness between physical culture and society in a local South African historical context.
