So, Canada is not in the World Cup but  guess who is …..

Twenty Youth Leaders are traveling to Cape Town, South Africa on a cross cultural exchange trip during the 2010 FIFA World Cup for a global citizenship initiative as part of UNA-C’s Sport-in-a-Box. United Nations Association in Canada partners with United Nations Association in South Africa for this youth exchange and leadership development program.

Personally, I have never been a huge fan of sports. To be very honest, I was out dog sledding when Canada won the glorious Hockey Game during this years winter Olympics. This is not to say I am not active, but certainly less active in the competitive organized sport scene. On the other hand, my colleague Sarah played a sport in Uganda, where she grew up, called Net Ball. Oh Boy did she ever hate it! She always wanted to play soccer, but girls were allowed to catch and throw only, but not kick. Girls just didn’t play soccer in South Africa! She dreamed of playing soccer until the day that dream came true here in Canada. It happened when she was enrolling her two girls in soccer, and there was another table for adult soccer neighbouring the registration desk. Now one thing that Sarah can attest to is her determination to always take an opportunity when it arises. When a door opens, she will put her foot in that door; whether it closes on her foot or opens even wider, she will not remove it without advancing. She embraces every opportunity when it is revealed, as she did with her 5 year dream of a soccer career came true. Now to reflect a bit and apply that concept to sports, any chance that one gets on the field to score a goal or pass to a great player, one must take that opportunity! It certainly is a good lesson learned from sports, and if consistently applied to life, it would deliver dazzling results. What else can we learn from Sport?

Sarah Kambites, UNAC’s Director of Education and Community Initiatives, opened my mind today describing how sports is a universal language and how it can be a transformative force to bring about sustainable development for all citizens of our common globe.

She speaks of sport as a vehicle to drive everyday values forward. If the following values were applied from the field to every day life, wouldn’t our communities be brighter, our world be better.

1. Playing by the rules
2. Supporting one another;  providing and trusting in a reliable support system
3. Refusal to Quit/Persistence
4. Discipline
5. Negotiations
6. Fair Play
7. Winning and Losing with Dignity
8. Confidence in our ability
9. Field and equipment stewardship
10. Interactive Responsibility
11. and a good hand shake at the end of the game

In sports, words are redundant, there is a universal paucity of words. In a sea of silent athletes, action is bountiful and it floods us with happiness. Sports teach us to stop talking and to start acting!

Lets take the values of sports and think out the box to identify what we can do locally, to stay informed, transfer knowledge and monitor any progress.  Sarah and the UNAC, through Sport-in-a-box is trying to cultivate a generation who are aware, critical thinkers, concerned, not apathetic, and skilled with a vehicle that is not only understood and attractive but promotes a healthy lifestyle.

 Six of the twenty Youth will be hosted by His Excellency Dr. Abraham Nkomo at the High Commission on June 18th, 2010.