BLOG#2 Invictus

    My previous blog entry on sport being a key contributor in community development goes hand in hand with the story of Nelson Mandela and his revolutionary movement in South Africa which is referred to as "Invictus". I think it proves exactly how "sport" can be much more then just "sport", meaning that it can have such a significant impact on all aspects of life including community development.


    After watching the movie Invictus for the first time; it was pretty cool to see the true story and how everything unfolded. The movie is a reenactment of the true events that occurred in South Africa in 1995; the newly elected president Nelson Mandela had a goal/ vision of ending the separation of blacks and whites which is known as apartheid.


    Mandela was successful in ending the apartheid of South Africa through the use of sport, and more specifically through rugby. South Africa actually hosted the '95 Rugby World Cup when Mandela came to power, this turned out to be exactly what Mandela needed in order to change his country forever. The South African rugby team were underdogs and ended pulling off the perfect Cinderella story.



    Before the World Cup there was a lot of hate in the country and for the most part the country was split right down the middle with the different races holding grudges against each other. As the World Cup unfolded, Mandela spent all his time backing the national team as he knew this would be the perfect thing to help end the hate and separation. As the team improved and moved further in the tournament, the countries people started focusing on the sport and coming together as one to cheer for their fellow countrymen. When the final whistle blew, the country erupted and everyone celebrated as one; whites and blacks were hugging each other and and giving each other high-fives.

    Mandela's vision was coming together and he said at one time that he had wanted the country to no longer be able to notice the black guy "Chester" on the team but to see everyone as equal and as one. This is exactly what he wanted to transfer over to the countries people; if he could get everyone to learn about themselves and learn that everyone is equal then in return South African could take giant steps in becoming a much more united country.

The link below gives a perfect example of how rugby was able to unite the races:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q97GEasO4Y

Sources: Invictus film (2009)

   

BLOG#1 Community Development Through Sport

 

     The article on community development through sport caught my eye simply for the fact that it demonstrates examples of how sporting programs as well as sport in general can really be a useful tool in community development. The article is mainly targeted on programs in the UK and doesn't exactly go into much detail on the programs mentioned but gives a summary on how they are effective in community development.


    To give examples, there are programs such as The "Healthy Living Centres program" which encourages participation in sport and physical activity, which in return increases peoples health and well-being as well it up-skills and empowers communities. Also mentioned is the "Step Into Sport" program which is said to encourage young members of communities to volunteer and then rewards them for doing so with vocational qualifications and experience. These are just two examples of little things that communities do involving sport and physical activity with the idea of developing the individuals and the community as a whole.
   The article  states that by involving sport in a community it leads to community engagement, builds cohesiveness and capacity within the community as we as develops social capital. I think all these points are pretty hard to argue with as most people can probably relay back to a time where sport helped your community development at one time or another.

   For me personally, I can for sure relate to what this article says. I grew up in a small town in Northern Alberta, called High Level where there is not a whole lot to do. From my experience one of the biggest things that helped our community develop and come together was sport. Although hockey is big pretty much everywhere in Canada, it is especially big in High Level; people love going and watching minor hockey games through out the whole winter and when it comes time for provincials the whole town in behind the players. In my time in High Level, we went to provincials almost every year and we always had sponsors from many businesses in town which helped us with jerseys, equipment, and travel to places. We were so far away from everything so travel was very expensive, taking buses was not cheap and through fundraisers and sponsors we were able to have competitive teams every year.


   High Level and hockey is just a Small example, how about Vancouver 2010? The Olympics took years of planning and this obviously took the effort of thousands within the Vancouver community to come together and be able to successfully host the event. Lets also not forget the potential for money to be made through sporting events. The Olympics brought Vancouver billions of dollars through hotel, food and beverage, transportation, the list goes on and on.

   The article just gives a small example of what sport can really do for communities and their development, people can be happier, people can be healthier, money can be made, friends can be made and the community becomes stronger. I cant really imagine a community without some form of sport.


Reference: Bowtell, j. (2006). Community Development Through Sport. London: London South Bank University http://www.sportdevelopment.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=607:community-development-through-sport&catid=49:socialinstrument&Itemid=65