1. Introduction
1.1 Topic Choice
The significance of sports and culture within a globalizing country is essential for the country to efficiently prosper. Poland will continue its efforts to become a more globalized nation since it significantly increases the annual GDP percentage annually as shown by the National Bank of Poland (Gradzewicz, 2008). As the trend continues, Poland is bound to be a host for a myriad of immigrants who will make it their home. This trend can already be seen through immigration statistics and the rise of international students in the country (Sas, 2019). Poland being the tenth-most monoethnic culture at 96.9% Polish ethnicity may make assimilation for said immigrants much more difficult especially if they do not speak Polish. English is only spoken by 37% of the Polish population (this is double the amount of what it was in the late 1990s), which also can make assimilating into the culture and country not so appeasing (How Widely Spoken, n.d.). At the same token, it is vital that immigrants assimilate without impeding on the already established Polish culture. People can easily be torn apart by conflicting ideologies, political beliefs, religion, and class structure but join in comradery to attend a football match or play on the same pitch as their teammates. Having said comradery helps stitch together society and without it nations are easily divided. Poland benefits immensely by being a mono-ethnic society in this regard. Its people have a common ethnic background that ties them together, however the same cannot be said about all immigrants living in the country. Sports, notably team sports can help in making the transition for first generation immigrants more fluid and manageable as shown in the study by the University of Illinois Department of Leisure Studies in the United States (Stodolska, 2004). This concept was 6
