WITH the advent of the World Football Cup, a massive wave of interest has been generated, not only in football but in sports in general.
In ancient times, as for example, among the Romans, Sport was regarded as a pastime to develop the body and mind, a concept which was captured in the well-known Latin phrase: “Mens sana in corpore sano”. Roman sport included athletics, boxing and wrestling, but the gladiatorial contests were not regarded as sport but rather theatre.
In the modern world, numerous more sports have made their appearance and modern Man has realised that Sport has many positive social, physical and mental dimensions. An example of this could be seen in West Indian Cricket. In 1950 when England was defeated for the first time by the West Indies, the West Indies victory broke the mystique of colonial dominance. The inferiority complexes which had been engendered by slavery and indenture began to fall away and a new sense of dignity and equality was manifested in West Indians.
Owing to cricket and the formation of a West Indies Team, a sense of West Indian identity grew up and this was strengthened when West Indian teams played against foreign adversaries. The teams being multi-racial, this led to greater racial integration in the society as a whole since the nation identified with them. In addition to breaking down racial barriers leading to greater racial integration, cricket helped to weaken class exclusiveness when players of all classes were teammates. Breaking down of class prejudices was clearly evident in Barbados more than in other West Indian territories.
In Europe, Sport was shown to be an amazing integrating force and morale builder. For over two centuries, the nations of Europe fought bloody civil wars all over the continent. These culminated in World Wars I and II where the cream of European youth were killed off, where their cities and economies were destroyed and their worldwide Empires lost and the Continent lay in prostrate ruin. Western and European civilisation was very nearly destroyed. The Europeans discovered two things which would save their continent from destructive wars. The first was the Movement for European Unity and the other was the stimulation of Sport.
The main sport which swept over the continent was football or soccer which dwarfed every other including lawn tennis. Football allowed the clash of competing nationalities to be fought out on the football field rather than the battlefield. Competitive and adversarial feelings were released not only in the playing teams but in the nations which they represented and normality returned when the matches ended. Football teams became friendlier and so were their nations. Later, players were employed to play in other national teams than their own. Football could share in the honour of preventing war and bringing European nations closer and helping them to better understand each other.
Another country where Sport, and in particular cricket, is playing a remarkably striking role of unification and integration is India. India is probably the country with the greatest diversities. It is multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and numerous competing political units. All these different groups are more often than not adversarial to each other and present the Indian State with the constant challenge of dealing with these fissiparous tendencies.
Cricket has proved itself to be a great unifier and integrator and this role of the game is fully recognised and respected. This accounts for the fact that India spends far more money on cricket than any other country in the world. There have been many writers and films in many languages celebrating and analysing the positive role of the game.
Guyana, like India, is a country of diversity but it is only its racial differences which challenge national unity and the integration of the society. Sports could play an important role in unifying the country. Cricket, as the most widely played game in Guyana, has always had the potential of breaking down racial and cultural barriers.
In the schools, for instance, children of all racial and cultural backgrounds are members of the school cricket teams. Children of all races become friends and begin to appreciate different cultures and discover a sense of unity when they play as teams against each other. The same kinds of unification and integration are reflected in the adult world’s sports activities.
Though politicians and the public do have some understanding of the social value of sport, the Ministry of Sport, the clubs and even NGO’s with an involvement in sport, have never adumbrated a philosophy which could guide and inspire their activities. Those who are responsible for organising sports activities must have a philosophy of action to guide them. The governmental authorities need to subsidise and spend more money on Sport.
