The Beauty of Sports

I like playing sports, especially group sports such as football and basketball. Yet, why does violence (e.g. quarrels and fightings) often find its way into the beautiful game of sports? If we observe the football matches that are being played during the World Cup campaign, it would not be difficult to notice players pushing, making mindless tackling and quarreling etc. The problem, I believe, lies in a person's attitude towards sports.

Let us face it, no one desires to be a loser! No one in his or her right mind would participate in a game with the intention of losing. Everyone wants to win the game. Yet, this competitive spirit within us can be detrimental towards the fulfillment of God's dream. (In short: God dreams of a world whereby humanity is reconciled to him, humanity reconciled with one another, and humanity reconciled with all of creation.)

For example, when a group of friends comes together to play a group sports, the leaders of both sides will take turn to choose the players that they want. Because no one wants to lose, each will pick the strongest player in the group to be on his team, and the weakest player would normally be the last to be picked. Imagine how would that last person would feel. Wouldn't he feel lousy about himself? Wouldn't his self-confidence suffer a serious blow?

Furthermore, I also notice that in group sports such as football or basketball, whenever the weaker players possess the ball, the stronger players will hurry the weaker players to pass the ball to them, in fear that they would be dispossessed. Again, imagine how would the weaker players feel? Perhaps after the game itself, they will feel even worse about themselves than ever before. Also, they may even feel resentful towards the stronger players for despising them.

Other than that, group sports often involves a lot of physical contact with the other team players. In football, for instance, when a player attempts to snatch the ball from the other player, he will be more concern about the ball than the other player's leg. Therefore, he may perform a hard tackle on the other person's leg in order to snatch the ball. As a result, the other player's leg may be injured and he may become resentful towards the tackler.

If we do not handle this competitive spirit with care, sports can easily become a platform for relationships to be fractured and destroyed. Yet, if we can possess a co-operative spirit in sports, sports can become a beautiful platform to fulfill the dream of God. When we play group sports, let us be conscious of the feelings of others, especially those who are the weaker ones. Let us offer grace and encouragement to them to help them to build up their self-confidence and self-belief. In the process, beautiful friendships can be developed and strengthened.

Furthermore, when we play group sports involving two sides, let us put the friendship of one another above the competition itself. Let us be more concern for the 'well-being' of the other person than the game. By doing so, sports can actually become a creative platform for intimate fellowship to take place. If we can see sports as a platform for friendships to be develop and not as a platform to win, sports can be beautiful and help in fulfilling the dream of God.

The old Chinese proverb rings true: "Friendship first, competition second."