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Inclusion, inspiration and involvement: Sports as a unifying factor for faith and culture

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IOC President Thomas Bach and Pope Francis pose with participants in the opening of Sport at the Service of Humanity conference at Vatican City.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
“We want to launch a movement. That is our vision. To go from discussion to action, and to create something new.”

Those were the words of Monsignor Melchor Sanchez de Toca y Alameda on a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Vatican earlier this month, a day before the first Sport at the

Service of Humanity conference that was more than three years in the making. The conference was inspired by Pope Francis to explore the role of faith and sport as a catalyst for social change.

Three days later, after an opening ceremony where the pope extolled sports leaders to “maintain the purity of sport, to protect it from cheating, manipulation or commercial exploitation” and “to eradicate all forms of corruption and manipulation,” the more than 200 invited delegates from around the world who participated in the event were inspired yet anxious to see where the “movement” goes from here.

The event drew leaders from around the world, including International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, former IOC President Jacques Rogge, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, NCAA President Mark Emmert, Wasserman CEO Casey Wasserman, two-time Olympic gold medalist Donna de Varona, Bruin Sports Capital’s George Pyne, and Right To Play founder Johann Olav Koss among many others.

The Vatican’s initial effort — the first global conference on faith and sport — featured heavy doses of inspiration and ideation, as Francis hit on the key themes during his opening address.

“I am really pleased that over these days we will have the chance to learn from you about your hopes for the future of sport and your commitment to ensure that sport is a source of inclusion, of inspiration and of involvement,” he said to delegates.

The three “i’s” were the foundation of the event. Last September in Rome, a committee devised the principles for the conference, while a content group of up to six individuals met two times a month to form the program. Inclusion, inspiration and involvement were central to Francis’ push to stress the fun and joy of sports and the concept of sports for all — especially the discriminated and the disadvantaged.

Planners also looked to develop shared values in faith and sport across six segments: compassion, respect, love, enlightenment, balance and joy. The goal was to unite people across faith, nationality and culture through sport, as well as to help people and encourage life skills, character and values through sport. Planners hope organizations and individuals will incorporate those principles going forward.

■ ■ ■ ■

The event featured seven- to 10-minute speeches from a mix of athletes who overcame adversity, to advocates and government leaders, with breakout sessions designed to develop future guidelines.

“This is not a fashion show where people are parading around,” Sanchez said. “The delegates chosen have been asked to come prepared to work.”

Delegates split into breakouts on the event’s first day — in groups of 25 or so — and were asked to draw out ideas for addressing areas such as women in sports, physically and intellectually disabled, elderly, refugees, and government and private sector, among others. Breakouts were an hour long and facilitated by a session leader, and sources agreed the quality of the sessions varied on the leader and their organization. Leaders presented outcomes of their sessions to the larger group as a starting point for future efforts.

“The whole point of the dialogue is an amplification of the opportunity that is here,” one source said. “There will be goals coming out of this — some of them realistic, some not — but there is no concrete plan yet on what to do moving forward.”

With future undecided,
event could return and grow

While the Vatican hopes to bring the Sport at the Service of Humanity conference back in 2018 and 2020, no plans have been formalized. Planners met immediately after the conference to debrief, and sources involved acknowledge some strategic decisions need to be made, and fairly quickly.

There is interest to build on the first event by holding connected events in the future. “I do think there is room for follow-up events of different kinds, particularly in the U.S.,” said one of the event’s planners. Monsignor Melchor Sanchez told the AP he hoped it was “the first of many meetings, perhaps in other places, too, like Africa.” Outside of events, there has been discussion of establishing an award, not unlike a Nobel Peace Prize, recognizing the groups or individuals bringing the programs to life.

Another major question is who takes charge of the “movement,” because clearly the Vatican has a number of other initiatives to support.

While Canadian-based Lang Marketing Network was the principal organizer of the event, and a volunteer group helped plan the content, an ongoing management team must still be built. Does it become a full-fledged, staffed and funded organization? Or does it again rely largely on volunteers, which would seem highly unlikely?

Like many first-time events, this conference didn’t come together easily, as sources noted the number of constituencies involved in the planning. “There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and that made this a real challenge,” one of the planners said.

Sources added that even as late as August, there was tension between the International Olympic Committee and the Vatican over delegate and speaker lists and event themes.

“I’m surprised it came together, honestly,” said one committee member, who asked to remain anonymous. “Like many first events, it was a mixed bag. But this really has the potential to change minds and change hearts.”

The event was underwritten with close to $2 million in event sponsorship, largely by Allianz. Sources said Allianz was pleased with the event and expressed an interest in returning.

Humanity Sports Club (Humanity S.C.), co-funded by Allianz, will serve as the virtual platform for continuing discussion from the event across social media and other platforms.

— Abraham D. Madkour
There was an overwhelming sense of — yes, again — inspiration and energy during the two days, understandable when one sits in the Vatican. Many stressed the power of sport and a desire to shift the image of sport as taking from society to giving back. As the event ended, the prevailing thought was easily … now what?

In closing, Bishop Paul Tighe, one of the Vatican’s planning leaders, said, “A good beginning is half the work.” But he noted the challenge in now “going beyond vague energy into focus.”

There’s talk of the event returning in 2018 and 2020, and while Tighe wouldn’t confirm, he said, “The commitment by us at the Vatican is to keep this moving forward.”

That was welcome news to those in attendance.

“As a former athlete, I am more about action than words,” said Jan Aage Fjortoft, former Premier League soccer player and head of a government sport commission in Norway. “When we meet again in two years, please let’s not just say it was great to be at the Vatican and great to be in Rome, but instead, let’s talk about what have you done in the last two years!”

Attendees agreed that more could come from the event.

“This event has motivated me to take a very close look at what we are doing within our community and to ask whether we can do more,” said New York Giants co-cowner John Mara, who flew to Rome with his wife and took in the entire event. “It’s inspired me to look at how we can do things better to have a more positive impact in our community.”

“It’s been an incredible place for inspiration, and ideas,” said MPE founder and CEO Leonard Armato. “Now, there needs to be a clearer, definable mission. There certainly is a general concept to promote issues that need amplification. I don’t feel leaving here that there is an actionable platform, but more of a philosophical mindset. But I am hoping it can evolve.”

Longtime advocate Richard Lapchick said the event exceeded his high expectations going in.

“I’ll be watching what the Vatican will do to continue to push this agenda,” he said, “because with this pope, it would have significant global influence.” Noting the bold-face names attending, he added, “You could see by the level of people attending from around the world how many are looking to be part of a solution.”

“For some, this was validation of what they have been doing,” said Green Sports Alliance co-founder Allen Hershkowitz. “For others, this may provide the spark to do more. For faith leaders, it’s been a way to engage with sports and for sports, it’s been a way to engage with faith leaders, in a way that neither have ever done before.”

The faith-based component was a differentiator of this event compared with other sports conferences, and many stressed that was a valuable asset going forward.

Jordan’s Prince Feisal Al Hussein noted that while faith brings division in many societies, faith and sport “can bring people together.”

Pakistani professional squash athlete Maria Toorpakai Wazir describes how she played sports by disguising herself as a boy while growing up in Taliban-controlled Waziristan.
Photo by: ABRAHAM D. MADKOUR / STAFF
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said that with her membership largely made up of Catholic institutions, the faith-based element of the event could be a fit.

“Higher education institutions are in a good position to work with this conference going forward because of what they are doing every day and the principles that resonate on campus,” she said. “I could see real interest, especially from the Catholic schools.”

The multifaith effort featured leaders from 15 various religious groups, as organizers clearly didn’t want the event to feel like a dictate from the Roman Catholic Church.

“The infusion of faith helped people give up their territoriality,” Special Olympics Chair Tim Shriver said. “I didn’t do my ‘Special Olympics 101’ speech or ‘here’s all the great things we do.’ I focused instead on inclusion.” In his remarks, Shriver focused on those on the periphery of society and bringing sports to people on the margins. “We need sports to be a place where everyone can play and achieve their best. Then we have a movement,” he said.

But faith institutions were challenged, as a number of speakers noted how their church, place of worship or religion wasn’t there for them at critical periods, with exclusion based on disability, gender or other issues.

■ ■ ■ ■

Moving from silos to collaborating to improve sports’ role in society remains a challenge. In the U.S. especially, each league and organization focuses on its own initiatives with little crossover, which prevents scale.

“The problem is, as each league builds up its own program, it dissipates the power to deliver,” Shriver said. “Why can’t we get the 50 biggest sports businesses to join together and endorse something as simple as three basic elements — equality, racism and access for the disabled? If those groups combined to develop practices to address those three areas, they could launch a real movement and establish sustainable goals. There are coalitions that work jointly together across other industries with market competitors, but it hasn’t happened in sports.”

HEARD AT THE VATICAN

“In all my years in the NFL, I have never seen fans react to an issue as emotionally as they are over the players’ stance during the national anthem. I have received more messages from fans on this issue and about players not standing during the anthem than any other issue since I’ve been in the league. Fans [were] telling me how they would stop supporting the team if players don’t stand for the anthem and similar type of messages.
“I have been surprised how emotional an issue this has been and it may be impacting the ratings, we really don’t know.”

JOHN MARA
Co-owner, New York Giants



“My mother would be so happy that I am sitting in the chair of the pope. So please, take a picture.”
 
TIM SHRIVER
Special Olympics Chairman while sitting in a chair used by
Pope Francis at Synod Hall and thinking of
his mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver



“I really liked boxing. I find the UFC totally unacceptable; physically repulsive.”
 
MARTIN SORRELL
WPP chief executive officer


“Inclusion is an absolute imperative
for elite-level sports. There is no place
for prejudice to hide. You have no chance if you have prejudice at the elite level.”

IVAN GAZIDIS
Arsenal CEO



“Here’s an example of what this conference can do. A Palestinian and Israeli. We live 7 kilometers from each other and now we meet here and are working together on an issue.”
 
HONEY THALJIEH
Palestinian athlete, to Rabbi Carlos Tapiero
of the Maccabi World Union



“I’d rather see players verbalize their stance and beliefs. I saw a player use their weekly press conference to talk about the issues they were concerned about, and I thought that was a great use of a platform. Rather than sitting or kneeling in silence in protest, why not use the chance to talk about what you’re concerned about one week rather than the general questions about preparations during the week. To me, that’s a better way to state what you believe.”
 
LUC ROBITAILLE
Los Angeles Kings president of business operations

 

One attendee, who asked to remain anonymous, said the event needed more hard-hitting realization.

“We need to look much more self-critical at ourselves so we can collaborate,” he said. “There is too much celebration about the great things we are all doing separately, but there is not enough sacrifice among us to get the results we need.”

In terms of results, attendees bemoaned the lack of media coverage on the positive stories in sports, but that was met with a firm rebuke from WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell. During one attendee’s protest over media treatment, Sorrell pointed his finger at the audience, imploring them to do a better job with more effective storytelling. “You can’t blame the media for everything,” Sorrell said sternly. “You need to work with them better and communicate with them more effectively.”

Others focused on developing true measurement around social impact, and wondered how much longer before organizations or agencies develop metrics that show hard data and standardized measurement on sports and social impact.

With organizations such as Right To Play, Homeless World Cup and PeacePlayers International, among others, all in attendance, one wondered if the Vatican’s efforts were supportive or competitive. But organizers said the goal was to shed light on the work being done by various organizations while at the same time providing a new platform.

A number of the U.S. members attending said learning more about the issues afflicting various parts of the world was truly eye opening, especially around women, children, the disabled and refugees. The subject of refugees, in particular, was brought up by many U.S. participants, especially after Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis gave a compelling presentation on how the organization set up soccer camps for young, female refugees in Iraq.

“There are refugees in parts of the world that we don’t see where sports can be a release,” one participant told me. “That is a component of society that we never think of in the U.S.”

Joanne Pasternack, vice president and executive director of community relations for the San Francisco 49ers, agreed, saying the event’s broad focus on groups that need help stood out. “This was a very good way to see the various people who are marginalized and think about how we can bring them to sports,” she said. “It really helped amplify messages for communities that are truly underserved.”

Leaving the Vatican, attendees had a lot to process, but felt energized.

“I’m very optimistic,” said sports entrepreneur Mark French. “When you see people like John Mara saying, ‘We can all get together and work toward common goals,’ it’s very motivating. If we can set goals, I think we can get everyone to buy in.”

Even longtime advocates, who have seen many efforts along the way, were optimistic.

“I’ve been coming to conferences for years, where a lot is said but nothing ever gets done,” Lapchick said. “This time, I think there is serious potential for change to happen.”

“One leaves here with a certain sense of hopefulness,” Shriver said, “which in this jaded, cynical world we live in today, is very welcome.”

Abraham D. Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.

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