Life lessons through sport

Sport is not just an opportunity for children to get rid of some energy, and it’s not just an exercise in healthy living.  Catholic sporting programmes, help facilitate outreach, interaction and personal and social development, as CLAIRE MATHIESON found.

Twice a year, Catholic schools from across the archdiocese of Cape Town gather for their annual inter-schools sporting events. The athletics event, which is opened by the archbishop of Cape Town, sees in excess of 800 learners participate and an average of 2500 spectators.

The participants come from both poor and wealthier communities and this represents an opportunity for the learners to interact and learn more about each other—a “valuable lesson,” said Stephen Meehan, a member of the Catholic Schools Coordinating Council which organises the events.

“It’s an opportunity for upliftment and for young people to network with each other. From advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds, everyone gets involved,” he said.

Similarly, in Port Elizabeth, 16 out of the 23 schools in the diocese participate in the recently founded annual sports festival. The event brings together teams of U-13 and U-14 hockey and football players.

Charmelle Redcliffe of the diocese’s Catholic School Board said the festival has proven to be incredibly successful as it brings together children from different backgrounds.

“It’s important for principals and students to interact amongst each other,” she said, adding that despite their diverse backgrounds the learners quickly find more similarities than differences.

Mr Meehan, who is also the deputy principal of Springfield Convent Junior School, said his school has taken seriously the government’s call to get learners active. “It’s important to promote healthy living. These sporting events are an extension of the school’s life skills,” the teacher said.

The sporting festivals have no winners as the focus is on fun and participation for the primary school learners.

The need for social interaction was also answered through sport in Johannesburg.

The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) at St Patrick’s parish in La Rochelle decided to host a six-a-side football day shortly before the World Cup in 2010.

“We hardly ever meet with our fellow Catholics from other parishes on a personal and social level,” said Nick Tenner, one of the organisers. “Our main aim was to involve as many parishes and schools as possible in the Southern Deanery of the archdiocese to interact and meet our fellow Catholics and also to raise funds for SVP.”

While he admits that the fundraising aspect of the day was hard work, in terms of “involving and interacting with other parishes it was loads of fun with many dividends”.

Mr Tenner said the 2011 event was encouraged by the participants who had enjoyed the inaugural event so much.  Despite rain and low temperature and attempts to cancel the event, the teams “begged” not to cancel.

“Eventually the weather cleared and the event was even more successful than the first year. We were a bit more organised and it is amazing to see the enduring spirit of us human beings.”

The 2012 event has seen more non-Catholic teams enter and has become ecumenical in nature.

Mr Tenner, who says he has never excelled at sport, believes sport is “very important in developing people physically, mentally and even spiritually. It keeps you fit, it keeps you thinking and it is a team effort that unites people.”

“In life we are guided by the Ten Commandments. Similarly in sport, there are a few rules and regulations, if we stick to them, the fun is maximised, if you break them there are consequences.”

These life lessons, he said, are valuable for our society, and easily taught in sport.

Pope Benedict in November 2010 said that “sport, practiced with passion and ethical sense, in addition to exercising a healthy competitive spirit, becomes a school to learn and deepen human and Christian values”.

He added: “Through sporting activity, the person understands better that his body cannot be considered an object, but that, through corporeity, expresses itself and enters into relationship with others.”