Jews and Sports

Athletics have been a body cleansing activity since the ancient Romans and Greeks. Both of these empires oppressed the Jews during biblical times. For this reason, many Jews believe that participating in athletics should be discouraged.
The ancient Roman athletes would compete in competitions that were cruel and dangerous. Many events would include wrestling with beasts and some even required the athletes to kill each other. The Greek culture, Hellenism, glorified the beauty of the human body. Therefore their athletic events were less dangerous and played in the nude. Jew athletes were discriminated against because Greeks believed that circumcision destroyed part of the body's beauty and purity.
Modesty is a moral that Jews value greatly. Many Hasidic Jews believe that athletics are unnecessary. It takes time away from caring for the family and studying in the yeshiva.
I disagree that athletics are a waste of time. They not only improve the body's health and fitness, but they can also help calm down the mind. When someone does any kind of work out, the mind becomes attentive and focused for long periods of time. Although athletics were once not modest, modern day athletics is not done in the nude. It is not a problem to work out while wearing modest clothing. Also, the time that is taken away from studying in the yeshiva can be made up with the attentive state that the mind is in.