The link between Sports and Religion
Watching the World Cup recently one had to notice how many times players would look to the sky for divine inspiration or the amount of players would cross themselves before entering the field. It has gotten to the point where group prayers are held in locker rooms and on the field even before a game and it makes one wonder, just what is the connection between religion and sports. A few interesting points of view should be considered here. Firstly there is the fact that America is a very religious place. That inevitably gets into the sports sector of the country as well and a lot of teams and coaches require some sort of act of religious devotion to be shown by their players. Is it fair for them to do this, does it help to bring the team together and can religion even help in a game?
Religion in sports has always been a controversial subject for people to talk about. The fact of the matter is that many people of diverse backgrounds all play on the same team and they all follow their own religious persuasions. Forcing all of these diverse people to be a part of the same prayer or dropping subtle hints for them to convert to another religion to be part of the team can have disastrous consequences. The fact is that coaches and teammates do it with the best of intentions but it can have the opposite effect. The objective of it is to make the team stronger and work more like a single unit if all the players did the same things like praying together and eating together. But it may lead to certain players on a team being alienated and at odds with their coaches and teammates. Instead of bringing people together, it can push people apart. So there is a strong case for leaving religion at home and bringing only sports to the playing field.
There are many examples of religion and sport colliding in the locker room and on the playing field. One example comes to us from America. In a heavily religious country, a lot of high quality universities are religious ones. These can be the first step in a budding athlete’s career and a gateway into a life of sports and playing the game they love. It only becomes an issue when a budding athlete who is not of the religion of the university gets accepted to study and play sports there. This becomes a problem for the young person’s family, the athlete themselves and for the other students at the university. The person may not be treated as an outsider but by not partaking in the same religious duties as other students it could alienate that student. What is interesting about this situation is the fact that by not choosing that university the young athlete might be hampering his or her future in sports.
There is even a case to be made here about how sport is like a religion. Sport has rituals that athletes perform, builds communities, provides an athlete with purpose and even has a strong set of ethics and moral codes to follow. So by implanting religion into sports, is anything really out of the ordinary taking place? Maybe and maybe not, it depends on the team and who is playing on it. It will soon be impossible to force religion in the locker rooms just for the simple fact that so many different players from different countries will all be playing alongside one another. The locker room prayer will be replaced by a team speech or an inspirational message before a game. It may even end up that people are free to practise whatever religion they want in a sports team without being alienated. The biggest sporting event on the planet, the Olympic Games started as a religious festival in ancient Greece. It has lost its religious aspect but religion is still very much a part of sports.
It seems athletes need support and guidance just like the rest of us and they often find it in religion. This is not a bad thing by any means, but it only becomes a problem when the religion of one person starts to dictate upon a whole team. Forcing religion into sports is never a good sign of harmony and unity in a sports franchise. Religion should by all means be welcome in sports but only that type of religion that is personal and does not affect other teammates. That way religion and sports can peacefully coexist for years to come.
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