On the importance of sport

Sport has always played an important part of my life. From running around kicking or throwing a ball in the school playground, to cheering on the Geelong Cats and Manchester City.

If I had to choose the best moments of my life, being at the MCG to watch Geelong win the 2009 AFL grand final in front of 100,000 people, seeing Manchester City end a 35-year trophy drought in the 2011 FA cup final at Wembley and watching City win the premier league with a last minute goal to Sergio Aguero at a Brisbane pub are cherished memories that will forever warm the soul.

On an everyday level, the excitement and anticipation of staying up until the early hours of the morning for a City game, cheering on the Cats at Kardinia Park or coaching the Breakwater Eagles under 9s on a Sunday morning provide a reason to get up and smile every day.

As corny as it sounds, sport unites the world every day. People from all backgrounds and beliefs can come together as one and be on the same side.

Personally, one of the things that drew me to sport apart from the exhilaration of scoring a try in footy or hitting a six in cricket is the fact that supporting a team makes you feel a part of something.

You almost live vicariously through your club. The euphoria of winning a premiership to the heartache of a last second loss.

We also under estimate the impact sport has apart from the obvious winning or losing namely the social connection. We build friendships and make connections with other people some of whom we may not give a second glance to otherwise.

How good is a Saturday night with pizza and watching the footy with your mates? Or randomly hugging a stranger at Wembley because you support the same team?

What about meeting Japanese people at a fan site in Kaiserslauten to watch the World Cup? What about coaching someone else’s kids on a Thursday night or Sunday morning in the freezing weather?

Most importantly let’s not forget the special bond sports creates among those dearest to us: father and son or daughter going to cheer on Melbourne City, mum driving their kids to various sporting commitments, grandparent presenting their grand-child with a new footy jersey at Christmas etc. etc.

Growing up myself with two sisters and parents who all had their own separate interests meant we often did our own thing especially in my older years, one thing that bonded us though was watching the Sri Lankan cricket team whenever they played in world cups or toured Australia.

It was a nice way for us to embrace our heritage together even though we were very much fair dinkum Aussies.

Imagine a life where we just worried about getting to school or work every morning, paying the bills, worrying about fighting cancer, living in fear of terrorism, finding a way to cure poverty…doesn’t sound very worthwhile does it?

Sport along with other hobbies such as music, art, travel, gardening quite simply make us happy and gives us a reason to get through the grind of every day life.

Numerous studies have been done by institutions such as Harvard and Cambridge which clearly shows the correlation between happiness and sport.

I don’t need a nerdy professor to tell me how good sport is. The fun, enjoyment and benefit I have got from it over 36 years is evidence enough.

However, having said that it would be silly to ignore some interesting realities about sport.

As much enjoyment as I have got from it – and as much joy as it still brings – I somehow feel I don’t care about it as much as I once did.

This is not just me going through a mid-life crisis or needing some new stimuli, it is a common theme I have noticed among sports mad friends of mine.

When I try and grasp why I have come up with a few reasons. Speaking for myself I have been lucky enough to follow two teams such as Geelong in the AFL and Manchester City in soccer who have gone through a wonderful period of sustained success.

I have seen the ultimate when it comes to my teams so anything else that will happen won’t really beat it.

The other more prevalent reason is somehow sport to me has been given far more importance in everyday life than it really should. This may sound somewhat contradictory to what I have written above but if we think about it, everything is good in moderation and most importantly in perspective.

With the invent of social media and pay TV it is in our face every day! The over analysis and exaggerated drama of sports shows to the personal attacks people make on Twitter or Facebook due to the passion they have for their favourite team seems totally over the top and unnecessary.

I must admit I am guilty of this myself due to the pure emotion of it all, however at the end of the day I know that whether my team wins or not, life goes on and there are far more important things to worry about.

The number of shows analysing different sporting competitions and performances and reaping unnecessary misery on struggling coaches and sportsmen and women gets a bit much.

Where once I enjoyed watching these shows for entertainment, I have significantly reduced time spent in front of the box. At the end of the day you need to kick the ball between the posts and score more runs than the opposition, and if you practice and play well on the day you might win?

You would think it’s a matter of life or death the way they go on and on about why the Demons haven’t been in the finals for 11 years or why Arsene Wenger has underachieved at Arsenal.

This is not a criticism of the commentators, they are doing their job and providing entertainment and at the end of the day the ratings and the ridiculous amount of money being spent on beaming these shows into our lounge rooms every day shows people are interested.

Social media has also provided an outlet for the average shmuck, like myself, to show case our loyalties to the world. It has also seen a ridiculous number of lost tempers and hostile differences among people who get way to sensitive about what others think of their team, which we are all guilty off.

One thing I will say in my defence is I have rarely worried about what a journalist thinks of my team or whether they have we been given sufficient credit.

I place little stock on the banter that goes on in Facebook groups about my sporting teams. The ridiculous number of conspiracy theories fans from all clubs have about the so-called vendettas against their team is laughable at times and lessens one’s enjoyment of what is at the end of the day, a bit of fun.

Some of the anti social behaviour at sporting events which has occasionally blown out into all out violence is totally unacceptable and downright stupid.

On a personal view, the new light I have on sport has actually made life and sport more enjoyable.

I no longer have the emotional investment I once did in my own team’s success for the reasons mentioned above but I still care to an extent and it still gives me something to look forward to and enjoy.

This means at the end of the day its just a bit of fun, the way it should be!