- by Joe Curtis, writing from Pembroke Pines, FL
It is not unusual for sport to be a source of inspiration in life. It may be just a game, but in these games we see some similarities to our every day lives. A game is made up of rules, and within these rules a player or team works towards a goal. However, in order to achieve this goal that player or team will have to overcome challenges. In life we also have rules, or laws, and within these rules we work towards a goal while overcoming challenges. Vince Lombardi once said: "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." In sports you have to have will. You have to have the determination to overcome obstacles so you can, hopefully, win the game. This also applies to life. We all have the power to control what we can and will do. Only through hard work will a person, family, player, or team, be successful.
Teamwork is also important in both life and sport. In life you will have to work as team with your co-workers. Being a “team player” will benefit every member of the team because his or her duties will be fulfilled. Not being a team player will most likely cause problems. A sports team is no different. Each member of the team has a role, and the success of the team depends on each and every player. A player needs to be able to fulfill their duties. If a player fails, chances are the team will fail.
So what does this have to do with War? Besides the common comparison of the playing field and the battlefield, where each team goes to war, War and Football have a relationship. This relationship can be traced back to the 14th century. From 1324 to 1667 football was banned in England for two main reasons. The first reason was its unruly nature. Early football is the father of Soccer, Rugby, Australian Rule’s Football, and American Football. Early football was known as "mob football", where one would do anything to win the ball. By anything I mean kicking below the waist, punching, etc. As you could imagine, this was not something a King wouldn’t want going on in the streets. So it was banned. The second reasoning behind the banning of football was because it distracted the people from practicing archery. Archery was important in warfare, so it was obvious that the King wanted everyone to be trained and ready.
These two views of sport changed in the 19th century. Thomas Arnold, educator, historian, and head of Rugby School, believed that games were an important part of education. He believed that sport would give "young men the body of a Greek and the soul of a Christian Knight". In 1864 The Clarendon Commission insisted that:
"the cricket and football pitches are not merely places of amusement; they help to form some of the most valuable social qualities and manly virtues, and they hold, like the classroom and boarding house, a distinct and important place in public school education"
In the 19th century football was beginning to resemble the modern game. Football was no longer seen as savage or a distraction for the British people. Football, and sport in general, was now the tool used to promote civilized society. The importance of the game soon began to develop; it was a source of encouragement, determination, and team spirit. Through this game children would learn about the sense of duty, duty not only to the team, but also to their role in the "game." Disguised in this simple game was a secret. Yes, the game was key to helping build a child into an "individual" and to "integrate him into the group", but it was not done just to play the game. It was done for something bigger. That new sense of duty to the team, and to an individual’s role as a player was really a sense of duty to your country, and your role as a citizen. The game was preparing men for war.
In the second half of the 19th century football was no longer just a game, it was a passion for the British people. This is where Will comes back into play. Passion and Will go hand in hand. Passion can actually be used to define Will. Football, and sport, will become a passion for both sides of the battlefield in World War I. For the British it was the passion for the "game", for duty to King and Country. For the Germans it was the passion against the "game", to break away from the old world, and create a new future for Europe. This was a future where the individual was not bound to the “team” and their ‘duties”, but instead was his own master. In 1899, after the English Football Final, Times said the game was a "great value 'in the battles of life'." The country, and the world, would soon fight in the battles that would shape the first half of the 20th century.
Part Two. Here
