Pure joy.
That is the only way to describe the feeling that washed over a dozen nine year-old girls and their families last Sunday. After losing every soccer game during the fall season, a 3-1 victory in their first spring match sent them running off the field jumping into each other’s arms with grins so wide they seemed to leap right off their face.
The feeling was contagious. For a period of time that extended well after the game had ended, the everyday cares and worries of parents and coaches had been displaced by the joy of sport.
There is something magical that happens everyday on small fields and in large stadiums around the world. People with different backgrounds, political beliefs, and life experiences come together to be part of a team – both as participants and fans.
And if for but a few hours all are equal in a sense. Members of that team rise and fall together. They experience the same feelings – good or bad. They are connected.
Prior to my daughter’s soccer match, I was playing on my over 40 softball team. Over the course of a a season, the number of age related injuries becomes pretty ridiculous. Why do we keep coming back? Yes, we like playing ball but we also love still being part of a team.
It’s a team that includes people from different lines of work (a carpenter, contractor, architect, mover, psychiatrist, pharmacist among them) and beliefs that run far across political party lines. You’d be hard pressed to find a better group of guys who enjoy playing together more.
The advantages of sport have been well documented. Scientists have found that being a sports fan can be good for your emotional, psychological and social health. For example, fans who identify with a local team have higher self-esteem and are less lonely than non sports fans. Sports have shown to increase feelings of awe, elevation and connection that carry over into our work and home lives.
I’m well aware of the many downsides of sport. Over scheduled children, hyper competitive parents, obsessive fans, questionable role models, greedy owners are chief among them.
Yet it is hard to find many other things in our culture today that so readily lend themselves to bringing people together for a common purpose. That allows us to meet and share something with people who may not be like us but who, at least for a short time, want the same thing and are willing to work together to achieve it.
Sounds like pure joy, doesn’t it?