Sports 2011: Staying steady through the ups and downs

By Kim Shippey, Senior Editor

What first comes to mind when you look back over the past year in sports? The New Zealand All Blacks’ narrow win over France in the rugby World Cup in Auckland? India’s triumph over Sri Lanka in Mumbai in the final of the cricket World Cup? The inspired leadership of Aaron Rodgers in the Green Bay Packers’ victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl?

You might recall Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s winged victories on the track, or the course records set by Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai in both the Boston and New York marathons. Perhaps you noted the steady rise of Serbian Novak Djokovic, who won three of tennis’s four Grand Slam events, or the achievement of 16-year-old American Lexi Thompson in becoming the youngest player to win a Ladies Professional Golf Association tour event.

In complete contrast, do you find yourself still preoccupied with the Penn State University scandal; lingering anxiety over concussions on the football field; the plane crash that killed the members of the Lokomotiv ice hockey team; the pile-up in October’s Las Vegas Indy 300; Serena Williams’s meltdown in her US Open final against the eventual winner, Samantha Stosur of Australia; or, the tiresome financial wrangling that affected the US football and basketball seasons?

Some of us turn away from those headline-making events and think instead of sporting challenges that encourage spiritual development and lasting joy. I enjoyed nothing more than a challenge from my 12-year-old granddaughter to take up Ultimate Frisbee, which I’d never even seen played. “You’ll love it,” she said. “And if we’re in the right mood, we might even let you beat us!”

That reminded me of another household in which a friend of mine had gone off for a weekend to play in a national Ultimate Frisbee championship in another state. She came home refreshed, even after two full days of intense competition. “I love the competition,” she explained, “but I also love the spiritual lessons I learn while playing. My weekend away taught me fresh ways of expressing the qualities of God with friends—even if they aren’t religious. We enjoyed and learned more about teamwork, the value of focus and persistence, God’s tender ever-available care, and His unfailing strength and support for every element of our lives—and the unifying effect of loving our neighbors wherever they come from.”

Mind-stretching sports often relate to personal bests. Sports psychologist Julie Bell pointed out recently that a lot of people can do well when the circumstances are right. But, she asks, “How do you use the talents and resources that God has given you to do your best, regardless of the circumstances?” She concludes: “I have to make my thoughts obedient to Christ, to ‘maximize’ every occasion for Christ” (Christianity Today, October 2011).

Yes, sports arenas are far more than places for gladiatorial contests for high stakes, the clinching of business deals, or for rowdy tailgating parties where fanaticism rules. They can bring people together in astonishing, deeply satisfying ways—not as a substitute for worship in church, but with an honest concern to share in celebrating God’s greatness and working together to find ways of expressing His goodness in our lives.

That coming together was never better demonstrated this past year than in the spontaneous gathering that preceded the needle match between Penn State and Nebraska a few days after the Penn State scandal broke. The players walked arm in arm instead of running onto the field, and knelt together in prayer for more than a minute while over 100,000 spectators stood in silence.

For many in Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, along with millions watching on television, that might just prove to be one of the most poignant sporting occasions of 2011.

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