The importance of sport, The Olympics or your local footy team

Photo from www.ctvolympics.ca

 

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games wrapped up yesterday with a massive party right across Canada as the Men's hockey team clinched the gold medal and put Canada in the history books with the most medals of a host nation in the Winter games.  After a fantastic, but stressful overtime win, I had tears in my eyes and joined my family for a quick walk along Yonge street to take in the party atmosphere.  I caught a few good photos and then finished off the evening watching the closing ceremonies.  I thought they were really good, especially with the comical, clever and heart warming opening in light of the mechanical failure during the opening ceremonies.  I thought the comedic segment was kind of quirky, but it worked for me (but not sure if the rest of world appreciated it as much).  The musical finale was ok and pretty representative of popular music here in Canada.  I managed to see many of the Canadian medals live and must say I'm very proud to call myself Canadian and proud of all the athletes wearing the Maple Leaf.

Now, on to point of this blog post.  I believe that sport is the one thing we have in this world that consistently and unequivocally brings people together.  And I don't just mean at the global level of the Olympics or the Wold Cup.  In every town and city all over the world, people get together every week to play and celebrate sport.  For me, I have an ultimate (frisbee) game tonight.  Although sometimes it's a little hard to go out in the dead of winter for a late night game, once on the field, there are few places I'd rather be.  When I have to miss a game, it is very disappointing and takes a little chunk out of the valuable stuff in my life.

As I've stated previously, sport can bring a whole nation together for a common goal and we all share in the glory of victory or the agony of defeat.  When it's our local teams, the same rule applies, but on a smaller scale,  and after a hard fought game on your own sports field, the thrill of sport can create new meaningful, friendships.  There's a lot you can learn from the sports field, hey, that's why there's so many sports analogies for life.  But remember, life lessons also come from playing fair and having respect for your opponents.  I prefer team sports over playing an individual sport or working out at the gym.   One reason is the camaraderie, but the other is the feeling of commitment, the team needs you and you need them.  It's a lot easier to give yourself a break and not go to the gym when you're too tired or it's not convenient.  There has to be something pretty significant for me (family mostly) for me to tell my team I can't make the game. 

Could it be that sport in modern times has taken over the team building and fellowship of going to war ?  You may be able to say that world charities and coming together to help out victims of devastating disasters is a decent analogy to fighting evil and protecting those less fortunate, but you can't really count on (nor do you want to) have an natural disaster or deathly disease fundraiser every week.  That's just way too depressing.  But it's healthy and a valuable part of living, to fight for a common goal with our fellow men and women.  

In the closing official words on the Olympics, they ask for youth to reassemble in 4 years for the next games.  We need this regularity in our, often times chaotic lives.  We need to cheer on our local professional sports team throughout the season and follow all the highs and lows of the campaign.  We need to play with our teammates once a week to experience the unfiltered emotion of the playing field.  After each game, whether we win or lose, don't we always say "see you next week" ?  Take a photograph of a team after they've played together and you'll see a consistent look of joy, weariness, disappointment or relief.  You're rarely see hatred or loathing, or an expression on one face that differs to the expression of their teammates.  We're in this together and we'll bravely share the outcome.  Some people don't like the pressure of team sports, I feel that they just haven't found the right sport or group of players.  And a book or camera club just don't deliver the same things in your life. Take the worst guy on your team for instance.  You're not going to ostracize this guy, you need him to pitch in and play the best he can.  And you'll help him improve and yell words of encouragement from the sidelines.  What if your job was like that ?

But why stress youth ?  Maybe because we're in danger of losing the value of team sports in our society today as kids turn to more individual pursuits on their game consoles.  Maybe, the lack of team sports today is the cause behind the growth of gang violence ?  Gangs after all, fill the need to fight with your brother against a common enemy.  And this is perhaps why the line grays a little between team passion, national loyalty and bigotry, intolerance and hatred toward your opponent.  Occasionally we lose the plot and forget to acknowledge the skill and determination of the other team when they gain the upper hand one day.  And that unfortunately turns into violence on the field, nasty chants from the stands or post game hooliganism in our cities.  

Kids, join a team, it's good for you to play hard for your team, trust me.  But remember be as good a loser as winner, you can't win all the time.  And play fair. There are many kids in the world today that do want to play sport, but sadly many of them don't have the opportunity.  And that's why I contribute to Right to Play.

There is a lot more I think I could write on this subject, but that'll have to wait to another time.  Game on.

More photo sources:

Megapixel men of the mountain - photography at the Olympics.

Official photos from Vancouver.

Some spectacular Olympic shots from The Big Picture (Boston.com)