where's the fun?
For all their money, all their medals, all their celebrity; for all the glamour, the cars, the wealth, the accolades, the plaudits and for the endless TV visibility there seems to be one thing missing. Just a little thing, perhaps an unimportant negligible ingredient but what happened to sport being fun?
Across the vast majority of sports you’d be forgiven for thinking that winning and all that that entails, is all that matters. Isn’t it called a game of football or a game of cricket or a game of whatever for good reason? Because it’s a GAME and truth be told not a lot should rest on the outcome apart from who buys the beers afterwards. For all his witticism and sharp humour Bill Shankley was wrong when he said football wasn’t life or death…it was way more important than that. A great one-liner but was this the point at which something turned, something changed? Has this line become the self-fulfilling prophecy that ruined everything that sport once represented and held true?
The situation begs the perverse question ‘is sport killing sport?’ Sport, virtually all sport and certainly all professional sport, is undoubtedly governed by the devil’s greenback; money. Consequently, professionalism in sport – centred upon scientific analysis, unquestioning commitment, acceptance of everything within its realm and winning at all costs – is hindering the natural development of the individual, the youngster, the player, the athlete and taking away what made them so good in the first place. Imagine what would have happened to Eusain Bolt (the obvious exception to this rule) if GB Athletics had gotten hold of him as an hyperactive ten year old? They’d have certainly wiped that broad smile clean of his face and made sure he couldn’t have had his chicken (mc) nuggets before his world record breaking sprints at Beijing. By stripping out the freedom, the camaraderie, the personal motivation and the relaxed nature that sport used to embody, the fun seeps away. Look at poor Tom Daly, a boy old beyond his years, groomed for his obvious future stardom and already talking about retirement and progression into the world of sports personality. I should run a book on whether it’ll be ‘strictly’ or ‘I’m a celebrity’ for the wee one. Ironically, Tom’s sport is one of the remaining bastions of fun; we all watch it not because we get the backward somersault triple-tuck with half a pike but if we watch it long enough someone’s going to bang their head and do a right belly-flop into the water and that’s gonna sooo hurt!
The eternal pursuit of sporting improvement, and perpetuated by every academy, federation and institute, can only lead to an overly critical and analytical mindset as current performance can only ever be improved upon. Stating that you’ve just played your best ever match, that your best squash is behind you or that you’ll never run faster will send the sports psychotherapists into apoplexy…or perhaps to the dole queue. The pursuit of sporting improvement can only be achieved at the cost of other facets of one’s life. Training, racing, playing and participating should be a time of escape, a period of enjoyment, of passion and personal expression; it should be something you enjoy because it’s fun to do. The rest is of nowt. Bill’ll be turning in his grave!
