Sports and Change (Cross-post)

by Brian Reich | 26 Jan 2010, 9:48am

I am leading a discussion about ‘how to handle what’s next’ at the USA Today Sports Philanthropy Forum later today in McLean, VA.  To help set up the discussion I put together some thoughts about how the sports world is in a position to help us address causes in new, powerful ways because of the important role that sports play in people’s lives.

Here is an excerpt:

Religion, in its most basic form, is a socially shared set of beliefs and rituals that allows us to transcend the material world and impart meaning to our lives.  The same is true for sports.

Sports and religion both have organized hierarchies and places of “ceremony” and devotion where followers gather.  For many fans, Sundays revolve around the big game, the way church attendance provides a focal point for a weekend. Fans wear a team’s colors and carry its flags, icons, and mascots as public displays of their faith and commitment. At stadiums, as well as in groups gathered around television sets in bars and living rooms, repetitive chanting, hand-clapping, booing the other team, doing the wave, and other activities create a similar shared experience that many get during a responsive prayer or the singing of a hymn.  Sports and religion share a vocabulary:  words like devotion, dedication, sacrifice, commitment, spirit, prayer, suffering, and celebration are used as commonly when describing teams and contests as they are when discussing one’s faith.

Sports are not technically religion, of course, but all over the globe people worship sports much the same as they do religion. For many, sports are the main thing in their lives, and without them, they would not feel complete.

Sports unite individuals in a celebration of common interest and shared belief. In religion, that common interest and shared belief has been used to advocate on behalf of causes and social issues.  In fact, religion has been among the most powerful agents for changing human attitudes and behavior. Sports too can help to shift the way people think and take action to support important issues and causes.  Few groups in our society have such potential to drive meaningful, measurable change – and few would benefit as greatly as the sports world could, in the process.

You can read the whole post over at im-media-te impact, my Fast Company Experts Blog.  Here is the link: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/brian-reich/im-media-te-impact/sports-and-change

TAGS : Causes Fast Company im-media-te impact ThinkingAboutSports USA Today Sports Philanthropy Forum USTSPF