SPORTING NATION
FROM PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TO IMAGINATIVE CHILDHOOD GAMES, THE PHILIPPINES OFFERS UP A RICH TAPESTRY OF SPORTING PASSIONS Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao
BY COLM MEANEY CSsR
E
“
verybody needs a break, climb a mountain, jump in a lake”. Ah yes, the immortal words of one of our greatest wordsmiths, Christy Moore, from his wonderful ‘Lisdoonvarna’. The seemingly simple lyrics contain a profound truth: all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. A life bereft of relaxation or entertainment or sport is surely an unremittingly boring, repetitive life. Sports, whether individual or team events, are of ancient provenance. The Greek Olympic games began in the 8th century BC; the game of hurling is at least 3,000 years in existence; chess has been played for at least 1,500 years. Quite apart from any enjoyment experienced in playing games, there are also beneficial side effects: the discipline inculcated through regular training; the rewards, to self and others,
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of perseverance; the chance to be creative, to do the unexpected; the simple gain of getting exercise. Not to be scoffed at is the element of competitiveness, of wanting to win. This is not a vice but rather a measure of one’s dedication to the game – to not want to win is surely an indication of indifference. This is exactly what St Paul says in his letter to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race” (2 Tim 4:7). And he says elsewhere: “So I run with purpose in every step; I am not just shadow-boxing” (1 Cor 9:26). And while, according to St Paul, what we are striving for is the crown that will never perish (1 Cor 9:25), nevertheless our worldly sports are surely a step, however humble, on that memorable path. Allow me to describe a few of the sports and pastimes beloved of Filipinos.
SPORTSMANSHIP The all-time popular team sport is basketball, thanks to the American presence here, officially for a good part of the 20th century and even more pervasively now in the era of the internet and social media. In Manila, there are professional teams, often including foreign players; but even in the most remote hillside village you will find a ring attached to a tree trunk or tacked onto the side of a building. There, a few of the local youngsters will practise their passing and scoring skills and will occasionally organise a league with neighbouring villages, especially if the annual fiesta of the village is approaching. These games are taken quite seriously and the decisions of the paid referee are accepted as infallible. These can be quite touching affairs, when the organisers arrange for a simple sound-
