Sport plays role in keeping us together

THE BALD FACTS - BY TONY SMITH

OPINION: Sport, it is said, does not so much build character as reveal it. As does life.

We've witnessed our team of the year in action this week – and it's not the All Blacks, the Tall Blacks, All Whites or even the World Cup-winning Black Ferns.

The people of Canterbury have proved there is no "i" in team by banding together to help others devastated by the major earthquake and the seemingly ceaseless streams of aftershocks.

Folk whose homes were destroyed in a heartbeat put aside their personal trauma to help neighbours in similar plight.

The much maligned young people of Canterbury – the students we intolerant oldsters berate for binge-drinking exploits on the infamous Undie 500 – have shown selflessness in spades. Literally. Hundreds of volunteers are still shovelling silt, mud and other detritus from the worst-afflicted areas of the city and Kaiapoi – that proud, little rivertown which just three weeks ago was celebrating a rugby championship win.

I like to think sport has contributed in some small way to developing the community-minded ethos evident all around us.

Most Kiwis have played team sport of some kind, if only in the schoolyard. They thus learned the importance of working together for the common good.

Those skills have come in handy now the good folk of Canterbury have had shovels in their mitts this week instead of golf clubs or tennis racquets.

The All Blacks and the Kiwis are a stellar example of collectivism triumphing over individualism. Contrary to popular conception in Canterbury, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter can't win rugby tests on their own. Nor can rugby league wizard Benji Marshall.

Flashy three-quarters still need big fatty frontrowers to win the ball and do the grunt work so they can score the tries.

We all admire great sporting leaders – national captains with the mana of McCaw, Ryan Nelsen, Black Ferns skipper Melissa Ruscoe and the Black Caps' Dan Vettori.

But civic and community figures, including Christchurch mayor Bob Parker, have stepped up to the plate this week and revealed qualities akin to Nelsen single-handedly repulsing the Italian attack at the recent World Cup or McCaw hitting the ball up into a solid slab of Springbok beef and biltong.

Parker, who many of us were considering sacking one short week ago (according to opinion polls) has since emerged very much in his "captain, my captain" role.

Sport isn't war, nor is it something to be taken too seriously. Liverpool manager Bill Shankly was wrong to suggest football was more important than life and death.

But games do have their place in troubled times like these. Thank heavens for the Black Ferns whose fourth consecutive World Cup should have brought a small glimmer of joy to all this week.

For those sporting folk trembling through tremors there has at least been the consoling thought that we've had the Warriors' NRL playoff last evening and the All Blacks' test tonight to look forward to.

It seems almost trivial for hacks like me to be chasing stories about suspended cyclists while our general reporter colleagues are toiling to tell tales of destitute families and bereft building owners.

But sport is important, now more than ever, as a diversion from our daily lives. The American authorities realised that in World War II when they encouraged sports bodies to continue competitions even though many frontline professional players were fighting in Europe and the Pacific.

It's therefore vital our sporting world soon settle into some semblance of normality.

Christchurch is a village, and especially so in the sporting arena.

There is collegiality among codes, a real sense that we're all behind anything in red and black, never mind the shape or size of the ball.Our hearts go out to hockey, whose home at Porritt Park has been trashed by nature's fury. Generations of Black Sticks internationals learned their craft there.

Rowing's headquarters at Kerrs Reach – where Kiwi Olympic medal-winning crews trained under master coach Rusty Robertson – has also been rent asunder.

The Coastal Spirit football club, which has seamlessly brought together fierce former rivals New Brighton and Christchurch Rangers, has lost its pride-and-joy facilities at Bexley Reserve.

These places have the same spiritual symbolism to sportspeople as churches, mosques and prayer rooms for those of religious inclination. Great memories are stored there.

Sport will have a role in rebuilding our community's shattered psyche. Games have a magical meditative element. They allow us to enjoy the moment, to put aside our quotidian challenges, our anxieties and fears about jobs, families or, in this case, the state of our sections and homes.

The city council has other more urgent priorities than assessing the state of sports fields. Some sports, notably football, have had to bite the bullet and accept they cannot complete some competitions.

But roll on summer – and cricket, softball, football, tennis and water sports. Let's enjoy and embrace them like we never have before.

- © Fairfax NZ News