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During my recent travels, which regularly take me from Oakland to Washington, DC, I have been besieged with negative comments about sports. People are upset with high-priced and selfish athletes and sportstars. They feel they have become self-centred, play only for themselves rather than their teams. People are also quite fed up with the boorish behaviour of team owners, and the ‘just-win’ attitude of almost everyone involved with sport. The whole concept of team spirit and passion for the sport or game seems to have been lost. The general feeling is that most sportspersons play to win, and not for love of the game. All that players seem to care about is holding out for bigger contracts. People feel that contemporary athletes have put on their ‘give-me glasses’ and refuse to remove them even momentarily.
I understand their frustration. I believe a large part of the problem stems from the fact that sports has become an end in itself, as opposed to a means to an end. Winning has become the prime motive, and people don’t really care about the means by which a team wins; only the ultimate result seems to matter. Take the Olympics, for example. The feeling of pride and goodwill created when our team courageously competes for top honours, is dissipated when rumours of back-biting and ill-will follow.
When Baron Pierre de Coubertin organised the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, his hope was to unite the communities of the world through celebration of athletic talent and capability. To this end, de Coubertin came up with five Olympic ideals:
• Help develop better citizens through character building which is the outcome of participation in amateur sports
• Demonstrate the principles of fair play and sportsmanship
• Stimulate interest in fine arts through exhibitions, concerts, and demonstrations during the games, and encourage people to live well-balanced lives
• Teach that sports and games should be played for fun and enjoyment
• Stimulate international friendship and goodwill to create a happier and more peaceful world.
It’s important to note that the objective of realising each of these ideals, is to build character, team spirit and goodwill. Nowhere does it say that the goal of sports is to merely win. Rather, participation in sporting activity should be for enjoyment, to stimulate interest in learning, and to learn lessons and skills which can be implemented in life as well — in other words, to create better human beings. Participation in games and sports stimulates individuals, and helps in developing balanced, well rounded citizens.
The ‘I can do it’ attitude is very impo-rtant. There will be many instances in the life of an athlete when she will feel defeated and lose hope. This is when attitude makes all the difference. As long as an individual believes in herself, she can always rise like the phoenix and make a successful comeback. All that’s required is to have faith in oneself and develop a positive attitude towards life.
As a parent, what can you do to help your child view sports in the proper perspective?
• Be a role model. The best example your child can look to is you
• Show how you are using sports as a learning experience, whether you’re sitting in the stands observing human nature, or testing the limits of your own ability through active participation
• Tell children how participation in games and sports provides opportunities to develop the value of team spirit, and how it drives you to give your best shot for the team
• Impress on them that sports develops leadership qualities and teaches how to value truth and honesty.
Sports is not about superstars, because a team cannot always win if only one player performs well; all team members have to perform well. Therefore it becomes very important to encourage the weakest members of a team.
Children must also be told that all champions have weaknesses. But champions work on improving the weakest elements of their game. Michael Jordan once spent eight straight hours shooting free throws, simply because he missed one throw in the crucial moment of a game. People are not champions because they win, they win because they work hard to become champions.
To me, sport has always been about possibilities — opening the mind to all we can dream and achieve. But sport is also about responsibility to oneself, and to others. When we participate in games and sports, we have a responsibility to do the best we can. But we also have the responsibility to reach beyond ourselves to make sports a medium for furthering the peace and goodwill that Baron de Coubertin envisaged. As tennis champion Arthur Ashe once said, “I learned a long time ago what money can and cannot do for me. From what we get, we can make a living. From what we give, however, we can make a life.”
(Dr. George Selleck is a San Francisco-based advisor to SportzVillage, Bangalore)