Gold
PlayThe achievement of the two young people from Wanaka who won gold medals for New Zealand at the just concluded Winter Olympics has set me thinking about sport. What is it? At it's heart its play isn't it? And play is fun. Sport is play organised and regulated. A particular sort of play popular with some people becomes a contest with a start and a finish. Rules determine how the contest will be played. But it's still play, and play, with the enjoyment it generates, seems to come right from the heart of the human spirit. And as we play together we generate greetings, language, communality and even rituals which give a particular sport its flavour. A special flavour
Fright and other feelingsI said in my opening paragraph, '....play, with the enjoyment it generates, seems to come right from the heart of the human spirit. ' I'm sure it does, but at times the sense of play dies under fright, uncertainty or antagonism. Then the need to fight, win or escape takes over. Jon Hotten tells us that 26 year old Scott Boswell had played cricket all his life and had been the star of the semi-final of the C&G Trophy, the competiton in which his team, Leicestershire, in England, was that day playing the final. For the third ball of his first over he faced a left hander and urgently 'the voice in his head told him he struggled bowling to left handers.' He suddenly wanted to get the over finished so he hurried. Wide followed wide. The full house howled. Next over he fumbled in the field and the crowd howled again. He bowled only one more over as a professional cricketer. Make sure it's play not something elseI've played a lot of croquet and I know about voices in the head and the many emotions that circle around competition. I'm sure that focussing on play and its fun is the best way to handle competitive sport. A senior croquet player who sometimes coached me used to say: "Play the balls John. Just play the balls." The process of playing and the enjoyment of that, not the winning, nor the fear of the opposition needs to be the focus. If play becomes something else the human spirit is In jeopardy. Having fun
I noticed that the Winter Olympic commentators observed that our Wanaka competitors seemed to be having fun. Long may they continue to do so. □ John McInnes Friday 25 February 2022 Apologies to those who usually click in just after 4 pm. I'm late today. John 5 pm. Publication details: The Meaning of Cricket by Jon Hotten; Yellow Jersey Press London 2016; Hard cover. ISBN 9780224100182 Credits: Videos - from YouTube; cricket photo - Newshub permission applied for. ##########
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