The other day I stood in our
hallway, chatting with our plumber as he awaited a response from his
supervisor. In no time at all we were talking about sports. He discussed the
impression given from television that all Americans play football, and that
every home has a basketball hoop above the garage. I talked about my experience
of playing basketball and baseball as a child. It was a pleasant conversation,
and it occurred to me how often sports becomes a tool for me to connect with
other people.
The first day I spent with
Whitehouse Primary School, the boys in the P5 class asked me which football
(soccer) team I support. Imagine their surprise at my response: “Crystal Palace
of course!” Word must have spread quickly that the American who works with the
Primary 5 class is a Crystal Palace supporter. The next few weeks, children
from other classes whom I had never met would approach to ask which football
club I support, as if to confirm the incredible rumors. Primarily it is the
boys in the class who are interested in soccer, so every Friday I can raise the
topic with them, to preview the weekend matches, debrief the previous week, and
offer some friendly trash talk. The week that Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 3-1
was particularly exciting. Every single boy in the class, and a couple of the
girls spend their recess playing football. They ask me to referee, which really
means that I must deescalate disputes and keep track of who gets to be goalie
next.
For many
young men and boys in Northern Ireland, sport is an important component of
their identity. Most would be proud to tell you what football club they
support, but many also invest their time in playing football, rugby, boxing,
etc. The Boys’ Brigade I work with plays football every week, with matches on
Saturdays. Like my plumber they are also intrigued by sports culture in the
United States. In summary, my sporting literacy has proved important in
building relationships with the boys I work with in Northern Ireland.
Sports
can also be a divisive issue. Sectarian tensions have a way of sneaking into
many corners of life in Northern Ireland. Children in Catholic schools would
have very few opportunities to play rugby, and Protestant schoolchildren know
almost nothing about Gaelic football or hurling. Football could, or perhaps should, serve as common ground, but it
seems that most clubs have been staked out by one side or the other. If you
support the Irish national team you would not support the Northern Irish team.
A friend told me recently that Chelsea is a Protestant team, although I doubt
that is a self-designation. I have heard also about the famous Celtic vs.
Rangers rivalry, which makes Glasgow a battleground for Catholic and Protestant
hostilities. I can’t claim to know everything about the division in sports
culture, but it seems you can make a lot of judgments about somebody based on
what type of lunchbox they have.
Sports are also divided along
gender lines, which should be a familiar-sounding problem for readers in the
U.S. The boys at Whitehouse Primary will not refuse a girl who wants to play
with them, which is great. But that girl will not have many opportunities to
touch the ball. The boys are not at fault of course. As in the States, there
seem to be cultural constructions that determine who can play and who can’t, a
set of values that they all learn as they grow up.
Great
opportunities for learning also emerge from sports. They are not just tools of
division and outlets for hostility. The schoolyard context provides countless
teachable moments. Inclusion, forgiveness, and fairness would be common
threads. Peace Players exploits the opportunities in team sports by asking
questions about identity, stereotypes, and peer influence. Sports have provided
me with excellent opportunities to connect with young people, and perhaps at
some point in the future football, rugby, and Gaelic football will be used less
as a language of division, and more as a way to connect and have fun with people
who are different.
