The book Spirituality of Sport: Balancing Body and Soul by Susan Saint Sing was a thought-provoking read. It discussed the idea that sports can be connected to spirituality; however it did not take the stance that sport is religion. To describe this nuance of thought, Saint Sing said that sport should neither constitute its own religion nor replace an existing one. Instead, it should be considered as an avenue to God just as prayer and Mass are. If we are truly Christian, God should be ever-present in our lives, including when we exercise—not just for an hour on Sunday.
Saint Sing speaks with the experience of pushing her body to exhaustion as she ran marathons. She was also a member of the U.S. World Rowing Team. She considers why people push themselves to such extreme limits and proposes an answer: “I believe they do it, we do it, to see what we are made of—meaning to see if there is anything more, anything other than flesh and sweat and blood. We do it to see if there is a soul looking at us in the extreme fumes of exhaustion. As in a near death experience, we go in a controlled fashion into these realms to see, to explore the depths of ourselves, begging of the Other. Like a pilgrimage, a cleansing, a retreat, we emerge more human, more alive, more aware.” I believe this analysis can be true if that’s what we are looking for. From my experiences playing and watching sports, I know that there exists a point at which you think you cannot go on, yet somehow you can find that little extra from deep inside yourself.
The Play Like a Champion Today Educational Series has a mission to develop sports programs in which athletes can grow physically, mentally, socially, morally, and spiritually. It focuses on making youth sports consistent with this mission. Children play sports for fun, but as they become adults, their thinking changes. While fun can still be a goal of sports, there are often new goals that emerge as a priority, such as health, fitness, discipline, and accomplishment. I am not advocating that we push children to exhaustion in hopes of spiritual development as described by Saint Sing in her book. Instead, children should have a positive experience in youth sports, so that as adults, they have lifestyles with physical activity. They should know that they have the option to make sport what they want it to be, even a spiritual experience. Without a foundation for that thinking in early sport experiences, adults will probably not know or realize all the potential sport has throughout life.
Kelsey Murphy, ND 2013
Professors Powers and Sheehan
Social Foundations of Coaching
