Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Sports don’t build character, they reveal it

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Why would you want to play sports? Or for those less active, why would you even want to watch sports? After all, there are plenty who don’t watch, don’t play, and don’t even care about sport. Yet, the great women’s tennis player Billie Jean King made this remarkably insightful comment: “Sport teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it’s like to win, and to lose: It teaches you about life!”


Character is a remarkable collection of virtues, according to research, that can be developed in most sporting environments. Researchers Weinberg and Gould, (2011), pointed towards compassion, the ability to put yourself in your opponent’s shoes, to seek to understand their motivations and decision-making perspectives as being integral to success. Effort, skill, support, development, responsibility, accountability, concern, and empathy all emerge as contributing towards life, as they do in sport.


Almost 25 years ago Shields and Bredemeier (1995) found that athletes, coaches, and supporters felt bound to the formal rules which every sport has, while at the same time they appeared to be honour-bound to the ‘unwritten’ rules which every sport also has, indicating sincere respect for the sport, for each other, and for ‘fair play,’ which provides a ‘level playing field,’ so to speak, for all participants. This respect for the game, refers to doing your best whilst upholding an ethical standard of seeking to win, but not at the expense of their good name.


Without enduring sports supporters, fans, most sports could not function at the ultimate level, so contributing so much to sports financially and spiritually, what does the fan get out of their sport? A paper by Victoria Wilkins, of the University of Nevada (2012) pondered this very question, evaluating the emotions that lead to their attachments to ‘their’ chosen teams. On one level, she found that there is an ‘ownership’ component. Fans feel that if they are going to games, wearing the apparel, and supporting their teams actively and vigorously, they have moral ‘shares’ in it.


There are, of course, the fun and entertainment factors which lead to unique ‘bonding’ and fellowship, and shared emotional experiences. Given significant weight however is the aesthetic appreciation gained from seeing masters of their sport in action and living vicariously through those semi-intimate experiences. Seeing Michael Jordan hit a three-pointer, Tiger Woods sink and impossible putt, David Beckham curl in a stunning free-kick, or Jonah Lomu trample over half a team for an amazing try! Or, in Oman, do you recall the ‘high’ of being there when the Red Warriors won the Gulf Cup?


A study of shy, withdrawn children and pre-adolescents by Finlay and Coplan (2008), entitled ‘Come out and play,’ examined the role of sports participation in 355 young people at the outset, and returned a year later were able to follow up with 201 of them to make a comparison of their shyness, aggression, participation, and psycho-social adjustment. The results indicated that sports participation was “positively related to indices of positive adjustment.” Shy children reported significantly less anxiety, social interactions improved, self-esteem increased, in what was identified as a “unique protective environment,” as the entire peer relationship dynamic assumed a more fulfilling role in the young people’s lives.


Sportsmen and women are divided as to whether they are winning, or the taking part that really matters, but a Nike advert once featured the line, “Second place is the first loser.” Harsh, but true I guess, and Coach Vince Lombardi famously said, “If winning isn’t everything, why keep the score?” Ouch! But one of my favourite quotes was from the inestimable Muhammad Ali, the greatest of all Heavyweight Champions, saying, “If you dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize!” Now that is that confidence, arrogance, and humour, that speaks to me of sports in all its myriad qualities.


Sport reaches out to us all, rich, and poor, young, and old, men, and women, boys, and girls, big, and small, there is a sport, an opportunity for us all, to learn the life skills, the attitudes, demands, and the rewards for commitment and determination, for dedication and respect.


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