Sports With A Social Conscience

Obviously, I love sports. I go every week to watch sports, usually a hockey game. I buy a 50-50 ticket, I sponsor the odd team, and I feel good about it. I feel like I’m doing good, I’m helping youth become more active, and I’m supporting organizations in our town.

Because I feel so good, I usually buy myself a coffee, let myself splurge on a hot dog or chocolate bar, and I sit back, and enjoy watching the live sporting event in front of me.

What I forget about is, I’m not actually doing good; at least, not good enough.

Why do I say this? Well, because while I’m watching sports, writing about sports, or heck, thinking about sports, and savouring my hot dog and coffee, I’m not thinking about the kid down the street that didn’t eat dinner, or the kid next to them that doesn’t have a coat warm enough to sit next to me in the arena.

That’s why I’m glad to see some organizations doing more. Recently, the Chatham Maroons supported two initiatives: “Drive Away Hunger,” and “Operation Cover Up,” where they collected food and winter coats. The Blenheim Blades also ran a “Drive Away Hunger” collection in conjunction with the Maroons. The Wallaceburg Lakers also ran their annual game in support of the Breast Buddies recently.

Thrusting organizations doing good into our sightline at the arena, particularly when we’re doing something to escape from the real world, like watching sports, is important. It keeps us socially aware. It reminds us, that outside our own comfortable surrounding, is a real world. One in which kids don’t have enough money to play a game like hockey, let alone wear a warm coat to an arena, or visit said arena with food in their stomach.

In reality, the answer isn’t to stop watching sports, or supporting sports organizations, but we do have to do more as a community for others.

I hope organizations not only accept requests from organizations to facilitate fundraisers, food drives, coat collections, and other initiatives aimed at helping those in need, but that they also seek out these opportunities.

What’s stopping our local teams from calling the United Way, Salvation Army, Outreach for Hunger, or another organization and saying, “how can we help?”

As fans, we spend hundreds, or sometimes thousands of dollars each year stocking our fridges with chicken wings, pizza, and beer so we can watch football or hockey on TV “the way it’s supposed to be watched.” What if every weekend, we took even $5-$10 of our budget for those events, and donated it to a local non-profit?

It would make a difference. And I guarantee if we, and I, did that more often, I’d feel even better when I sat in the stands to watch a game. I’d feel better when I saw a child wearing a coat when it’s cold, and I’d feel better knowing someone got dinner, who might have otherwise gone hungry.

And this feeling wouldn’t be one sparked by a prideful, “look what I did,” mentality, I’d feel better, because things were actually better.

So the next time you go to a game and you see the team is collecting, or someone knocks on your door asking for canned goods, or when you clean out your closet, give. Don’t throw away, don’t simply spoil yourself, spoil others.

On that note, I’d like to say thank you to organizations like the Chatham Maroons, Blenheim Blades, and Wallaceburg Lakers, who recently supported initiatives to help our community, and thank you to all the other organizations out there who will and have held similar drives.

At the end of the day, a hat trick and touchdown are outstanding, but a warm child and full stomach should be our top story each and every day.