The United Nations has declared 2005 the
International Year of Sport and Physical Education
Kofi Annan says:
"Sport is an international language that can bring people together, no matter what their origin, background, religious beliefs or economic status."
"The International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005) provides a unique opportunity to focus the world’s attention on the importance of sport in society and on how sport and physical education programmes can be used as tools to help combat challenges such as extreme poverty, conflict and HIV/AIDS and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals."
What do you think about the potential of sport to promote peace, to bring people of different backgrounds together?
Mary
By the way, if you are organizing an event which you believe fits the criteria of the International Year of Sport and Physical Education, you can contact the UN for sponsorship (no $$ though, just their blessings!) I got it for my Strait of Messina swim!
Without getting into the UN controversy that Tom discusses, the idea of sports as an avenue to peace raises mixed feelings for me.
The idealist in me wants to believe this is possible.
The realist sees countries using their sports programs for propagandizing and (in some cases) drugging their athletes, turning their sports systems into an industry. Then too there's the cut-throat competition of international soccer matches, with players and coaches getting death threats. (Come to think of it, even here in Philly, the pitcher who threw the home run ball to Joe Carter in the '93 World Series was getting death threats.)
Sports in some respects mimic war--team sports more so than individual sports. Think of the language ppl use to describe wins and losses. "____ routs ____." Or "____ rolls over ____." Try going to a game and rooting for the away team--especially if there's a serious rivalry going on. Historically, sports have served as training for war, as evidenced by the famous saying, "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton."
That said, I do see the potential: when I was a kid, there was a girl who constantly put me down because I wasn't good at sports. She was one of the "cool" kids. I felt pretty awkward around her. We went to the same day camp and year after year, it seemed things thawed between us. The very thing that divided us began to unite us. I wasn't that great at sports, but I was very determined and willing to try. At 14, my parents said I didn't need to go to the day camp anymore but by then I'd made friends and wanted to attend (aren't parents clever that way! I didn't want to and resisted every year for a while). She too attended, and I think we were the only 14-year-olds in our group--somehow that may have drawn us together...that and I think she grew to respect that I didn't give up easily. And I came to respect and admire her skill.
Sports brings with it a kind of intimacy, even among strangers, that is hard to find elsewhere. After a swim meet, I met my competitors in the shower, locker room, and sauna. And we ceased to be people with titles or records or whatever. We were just women sharing our experiences. After some group runs, the runners sometimes gather at a local restaurant where no matter how fast or slow anyone is, the common ground is that we all knew what it was to hurt from your best effort, to walk into a restaurant sweaty and laughing at ourselves.
Maybe the question is not so much whether sports generally can promote peace--but how can they? Competition is great--healthy, fun, demanding of our best efforts. I tend to be uncomfortable w/ someone saying, "oh I'm not competitive" as if somehow that's politically incorrect. I'm all about PC. And slow as molasses. But even in a slow race, I have been known to hear footsteps behind me and say to myself, "no way she's going to pass me!"
Anyone serious about a sport knows how that feels, knows what it is to wonder if you can take another step, if you can swim another stroke, if you can avoid maxing out in oxygen debt and finish the race. It doesn't matter what country you're from, how fast you are, how much money you have. The athlete feels both strong and fragile--feels herself at the edge of what it is to be human, testing herself against others. Competitors share the same pool, the same track, the same race course, the same struggle of will.
Originally posted by Tom Ellison
FindingMyInnerFish...great post....thank you
Thanks Tom! I've been doing a lot of thinking about the topic! Glad you liked the post!
I don't know about peace, but I'm really surprised that USMS clubs don't get more involved in fundraising. They have a Walk 4 a Cure, Rune 4 a Cure, etc. - why not raise money for the Komen Foundation with Swim 4 a Cure?
My sister runs marathons and does bike "tours" for the Luekemia Lymphoma Society (our uncle suffered, and a friend of mine currently is scheduled for a bone marrow transplant because of). I don't own a bike, and hate running, so how can I swim for the cause?
Organizations fighting MS, AIDS, various cancers, Alzheimers, all sorts of things, do athletic type fundraisers. Anyone know how a USMS club could put together a postal swim or something of the sort to support these types of causes?
Kae
Gee Tom, I was thinking about putting up a similar post, but you saved me the trouble!
If Annan is pushing The International Year of Sport and Physical Education" I have to ask.... what's in it for him?
Originally posted by Tom Ellison
"Quote Annan"
"The International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005) provides a unique opportunity to focus the world’s attention on the importance of sport in society and on how sport and physical education programs can be used as tools to help combat challenges ....."
Gosh, Annan’s new focus on Sports is all the more remarkable for the fact that they are made against the backdrop of the biggest scandal in U.N. history, the ill-fated Oil-for-Food program, now the subject of at least four congressional investigations, three U.S. federal investigations, as well as a U.N.-appointed commission of inquiry, the Volcker Commission.
Several questions remain regarding Kofi Annan:
1. Did the U.N. Secretary-General deliberately turn a blind eye to U.N. mismanagement and corruption in overseeing the Oil-for-Food program?
2. Did he sympathize with the efforts of Saddam Hussein and key members of the Security Council to lift U.N. sanctions against Iraq?
3. Were efforts made by the Hussein regime to influence the actions and decisions of the Secretary-General with regard to Iraq?
4. Was Annan influenced in his decision-making regarding the program by his son’s involvement with Cotecna?
5. What was Annan's involvement ($ reward) in the Oil-for Food program?
I think the Sports bodies around the world can do without UN help or intervention.....at least until they get their ducks in a huddle.....
You have walk a thons, & run a thons, even bike a thons for a lot of causes. I have even done a virtual march on line for the environment.
Internationally there are tons of sports that bring people together. This is a great avenue that should be explored more.
I think this would be great.
The World Swim for Malaria is a great initiative! We masters in Italy just heard about it yesterday, and we definitely plan to organize a benefit event. Here's the link:
World Swim for Malaria
"Quote Annan"
"The International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005) provides a unique opportunity to focus the world’s attention on the importance of sport in society and on how sport and physical education programs can be used as tools to help combat challenges ....."
Gosh, Annan’s new focus on Sports is all the more remarkable for the fact that they are made against the backdrop of the biggest scandal in U.N. history, the ill-fated Oil-for-Food program, now the subject of at least four congressional investigations, three U.S. federal investigations, as well as a U.N.-appointed commission of inquiry, the Volcker Commission.
Several questions remain regarding Kofi Annan:
1. Did the U.N. Secretary-General deliberately turn a blind eye to U.N. mismanagement and corruption in overseeing the Oil-for-Food program?
2. Did he sympathize with the efforts of Saddam Hussein and key members of the Security Council to lift U.N. sanctions against Iraq?
3. Were efforts made by the Hussein regime to influence the actions and decisions of the Secretary-General with regard to Iraq?
4. Was Annan influenced in his decision-making regarding the program by his son’s involvement with Cotecna?
5. What was Annan's involvement ($ reward) in the Oil-for Food program?
I think the Sports bodies around the world can do without UN help or intervention.....at least until they get their ducks in a huddle.....
