Culture and Community Through Sport

When you’re in a new place, especially in another country, it can be difficult to find belonging.  Feeling out of place can make you isolated, or lonely, or homesick.  But no matter where you are, where you come from, or what language you speak, there’s one thing that seems to bring us all together: sport.

Over the past week, our students have embraced all the activities we’ve put in front of them.  They’ve tried their hands at cricket for the first time, overcome some quite literal obstacles in rock climbing, and joined hundreds of others in cheering on their (new) favorite local team in the footy.

More than any ice-breaker or get-to-know-you game we could have devised, it was sport that really brought them together.  We saw the support and encouragement they shared when learning to bowl in cricket; the trust they gave and gained in each other when belaying ropes ten meters off the ground on a climbing wall; and the camaraderie they formed in the frenetic tension of an Australian Rules Football match.

You see, in Australia, sport isn’t just a way to pass the time; it’s a way of life.  Here, people come together over sport in a way that eclipses all the other boundaries of life – young/old, rich/poor, outsider/local.  A good sporting match gives everyone a common cause and a common bond.

When we bought our hats and scarves at the stadium store, the shopkeeper commended us on choosing the right team (go the Dockers!).  When we got on the bus to the oval, the other passengers tipped their heads in a knowing way.  When we threw our hands up in celebration at an unexpected win, strangers joined in with us. Suddenly, we weren’t twenty Americans on a study trip, or foreigners on a holiday, or even students on an excursion.  In those moments, we were simply one of them.  In those moments, we were part of the community.