The power of sports, the language understood by all!!

Nelson Mandela once said,

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”

Mandela is a legendary South African politiican and activist who realized the unifying power of sports and used them to make changes that he felt diplomacy could not.

For the sports fans out there, think about the feelings that a professional or college sports atmosphere has given you. Think about the excitement, the inspiration, the adernaline rush, and all of the things in between.

Participating in sports or simply just watching sports allows many to learn vital life lessons: humility, persistance, determination, teammwork, and courage - just to name a few. Sports fans watch their favorite players humbly fail and learn humility. They watch their favorite players finally win the World Series after years of waiting, and they are reminded of the importance of patience, hardwork, and hope.

The inside of a sports arena, stadium, or field separates fans from whatever is happening outside, if only for a little while. These three or so uninterrupted hours allow people from all walks of life to come together for one reason: cheering for the team that they love.

Isn't that one of the greatest aspects of sports?

When in this environment, and inside the walls that sports provide, fans are allowed to forget about every conflict that arises in their daily lives. Just for a while, fans are allowed to forget about politics, work, money, school, not getting enough sleep, whatever it is, they are allowed to forget about it.

No matter your race, your gender, your economic income, your past, your present, or your age, sports never leaves anyone out. You are never uninvited from cheering for your favorite team. Sports always leaves a seat at the table for fans.

I began to reflect on the power of sport to connect on a local, national, and international level. Being a sports fan is a way of being a part of a community, of belonging to a group with whom you feel a connection. What made the World Series celebration so magical for me was the massive physical manifestation of that feeling. Indeed, the common love for a sport can transcend boundaries and common differences, even if just for a few hours.

Unifying and powerful, sports will always allow a nation to become one again

In a world where religion and race cause rivalry and war, sport brings us something that nothing else even comes close to giving us, peace and unity. Whether it is locally, nationally or worldwide we all come together to socialise and appreciate sport, as well as the enjoyment and excitement we get from it. Sport creates teamwork, which makes us work together and look past skin colour, gender, race, religion, flaws and imperfections because we are in it together.

Sport is a language that people all over the world can speak. There are little or no communication barriers when it comes to sport. For many people it is seen as just a game, but it is so much more. The whole world, white and black come together as one to sing, dance and celebrate over the delirious celebration. Sport creates teamwork, strength, friendships, love, rivalry, competition, growth, endurance, passion, motivation, determination, desire, inspiration, triumph and honour. Things we as people strive to achieve in everyday life and much more.

For example, The Olympics brings the whole world together. The Olympic flag has a symbol of the coloured rings, representing the worlds’ different continents. It is a wonderful event that brings us all together to celebrate in harmony and for one pivotal moment it brings the world together. The best athletes in the world represent the flag, culture, history, religion and beliefs of their motherland. They stand in front of everyone and are proud to be who they are. The Olympics does not necessarily cease war when it starts, but it helps everyone that little bit more to come together in peace and harmony.

The structure of this global tournament creates a unique kind of solidarity. Since only a finite number of countries qualify, and only two can play at a time, most fans have to choose countries, other than their own, to root for. Every four years, this process causes children all over the world to pore over maps and national flags, asking their parents questions that send those parents, in turn, to learn a few things about the world beyond their own borders. As the tournament proceeds and the field narrows, more of us root for nations we might never have imagined ourselves supporting. We learn the names and the faces of their children’s heroes. We see the passionate expressions on their citizens’ faces. We suffer and rejoice with fellow humans in far-off corners of the globe. Only at the FIFA World Cup can the arc of a ball towards a net lift so many people to their feet all over the world – people of every ethnicity and age and creed. Only at the FIFA World Cup does the globe unite in rapt attention to a single field, a single goal.

As demonstrated in “United in Rivalry,” an effort I recently participated in, none of us, not even Nobel Peace Laureates, are immune to the excitement and bravado, the national pride and nail-biting tension that the FIFA World Cup provokes.

Football, and sport in general, represents an opportunity to build a better version of a world too often threatened by irrationality, intolerance and violence. Like any opportunity, it only counts if we take advantage of it. .

YESTERDAY WE WITNESSED EVERY AFRICAN BECOME A SENEGALESE BECAUSE THEY FUDGE IT FOR THE WHOLE CONTINENT.