During the commercial break of any televised, professional sports game, viewers are inundated with advertisements. Amidst visions of athletic glory, a certain sportswear company advises audiences and aspiring athletes to “just do it”—in other words, turn off their TVs, get off their couches, and “just play sports.” A commercial for a thirst-quenching sports drink juxtaposes perspiring, hard-working athletes with the inspiring, if not taunting, question: “Is it in you?”
While these messages may be empowering, they stand in stark contrast to the sports programs they’re aired between. In North America, some view professional sports as an exclusive, money-making machine. Only the best are allowed to participate; only the richest franchises can afford the premiere players, and buy their way into championships. Players will do anything—even illegal, performance-enhancing drugs—to win. It’s hard to believe that any old average Joe can “just do it.” The United Nations begs to differ.
The UN has adopted a Sport for Development and Peace movement, using sports as a tool for achieving the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals, including eradicating extreme poverty, promoting gender equality and empowering women, combating disease, and developing a global partnership for development. The idea is that sports can bring people of any background and skill-level together on a team in pursuit of common goals. If the UN were asked “is it in you?” they would certainly respond with a resounding “yes.”
Right to Play, an international humanitarian organization, employs the philosophies of the UN to use sports as an educational and developmental tool in developing countries. “The first and most important thing is giving children in very difficult circumstances, at certainly no fault of their own, many opportunities to play and grow and develop through sport and games,” says Mark Brender, the Deputy Director of Right to Play Canada. “[Right to Play’s programs are] not at all about winning or losing. They’re about friendship and compassion and building life skills that will help [children] build a better future for their communities.”
While Right to Play focuses on improving the lives of impoverished children, Brender recognizes that the values of sports are applicable worldwide. “A lot of [Right to Play’s objectives] are universal,” he says. If this is true, then sports should foster community development in a variety of settings, including the University of Toronto.
In Robert Putnam’s famous theory, the decline of social capital—the vibrancy and vigour of the civil engagement central to fostering strong democracies—is illustrated by the decrease in the number of bowling leagues in America, even while the number of American bowlers has increased. It’s worth asking, then: if part of the problem is the number of those bowling alone, is part of the solution to start bowling together? Is our civic duty to play more sports?
Laura Tan, the co-ed chair of U of T Intramural Sports Council and co-ed rep for the School of Graduate Studies, insists that this is indeed the case. “One of the big focuses of intramurals is not necessarily winning or losing,” she explains. “Intramurals is more concerned with getting people involved, getting people exercising, getting people to know other people and trying new things, and maybe challenging yourself in ways that you never really expected.”
Since intramurals aren’t as highly competitive as the Varsity Blues, anyone, regardless of skill, can participate. “We always want to encourage everyone to play, like everybody,” says Tan. “I don’t care how good you are, we don’t care if you can hold a racket the right way, we want you to come out and try it.” For her part, Tan can hold a racket. She has been involved in intramurals for eight years, “playing pretty much every sport,” and ultimately falling in love with volleyball. Tan reveals that friendship is one of the most important things that she has gotten out of her years of intramural experience. “I’ve met more people probably through intramurals than I have through any other activity that I’ve done,” she says. “You meet people from every single background, from every single religion, from every single part of the world, and it’s a very good way of kind of seeing a good slice of university life […] I’ve met some really great friends, both my teammates and some of my opponents,” Tan explains, emphasizing the importance of building relationships with members of rival teams. “You really learn something about the person by seeing them on the other side of the net. You really get a sense of them that you can’t get in school, or in pretty much anything else you do.”
First-year intramural soccer player, Kody McWilliams echoes this sentiment. “Everyone puts everything they have on the field, but then after the game, everyone’s friends again,” he says.
Intramurals possess this power to unite because all participants are given equal opportunities. Teammates and opponents alike are bound by the same set of rules, and all are encouraged to strive towards the common goal of promoting sports and building friendships. McWilliams’ teammate, friend, and fellow first-year soccer player, Christophe Shammas explains that intramurals are “like a community.” At a school as big as U of T, it’s easy to feel like a number. Having a sense of community protects students from feeling lost and isolated. “Instead of being one really tiny number, [on an intramural team] you’re part of a slightly smaller group, so it’s a bit better,” says Shammas.
Tan adds that intramurals are “a really good way to be a part of something that was small, but still part of the greater whole.” Intramurals allow students to become a part of a close-knit team while representing their college or faculty and participating in a campus-wide activity. A team is a community in and of itself. Individual members from different walks of life come together, forget their differences, and just do it.
Eric Hsu, the intramural men’s representative for the School of Graduate Studies and soccer and basketball player, admits that he has learned invaluable lessons from the variety of people he’s encountered through intramurals. “I would say that intramurals have helped me to understand other people a lot better, and relate to concerns and values that are very different from my own,” he says.
Intramurals athletes may not receive the glory of professional sports stars, or even Varsity teams. But they do give students the opportunity to get involved and become a part of something larger than themselves. On an intramural team, “it’s not just in you,” it’s in all of us.
