Sport — At Its Best — Can Help Change the World
By Ken Reed
One of the greatest, and most memorable, sports-related quotes comes from Nelson Mandela:
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
Sport has the power to change the world.
Indeed it does. Sport has helped overcome injustice, intolerance, and stereotypes. A couple well-known examples are Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey integrating baseball and a small group of women within the National Organization of Women (NOW) spurring the development of Title IX.
Robinson’s and Rickey’s success in integrating baseball helped others in their fight for racial justice and paved the way for the civil rights movement. Title IX was a catalyst for gender equity in a variety of areas, including corporate executive suites.
Still, sport has the potential to do a lot more.
The reality is, sport can be beautiful — and powerful — when win-at-all-costs (WAAC) and profit-at-all-costs (PAAC) mentalities are absent — and very ugly when they are present.
To fully actualize sport’s potential as a positive change agent, we need sports leaders and policymakers that fully incorporate social, cultural and environmental considerations — not just economic considerations – in their decision-making. We need sports policies that put people, the planet, and what’s best for the games themselves, on the same level as winning and making money.
Striving to win isn’t the problem. Striving to win at all costs is the problem. Likewise, striving to make a profit in the business of sport isn’t the problem. Striving to make a profit at all costs is the problem.
It’s important that the individuals and organizations that have the power to shape sports policy in our country act in a socially responsible way. To that end, checks and balances are needed. That’s where all of us who love sports come in.
If we truly care about sports, and its potential to change the world for the better, we all need to be sports reformers and sports activists in our own way – even if that means simply pushing for a social and/or economic justice-based policy change at the local school board or Little League meeting.
Sport is an important aspect of our society. Author and public policy consultant Varda Burstyn said:
“The rituals of sport engage more people in a shared experience than any other institution or cultural activity today.”
As fans, athletes, coaches, game officials, administrators, owners, and anyone else with a stake in sports, we owe it to ourselves, and our children, to become informed citizens and sports activists who try to make the world a better place through sports.
We also owe it to all the sports activists and reformers who’ve come before us, those who have made sports, and society more fair, just and ethical today, relative to yesteryear.
League of Fans was founded with the mission of fighting for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Our fight to that end will continue in 2020.
Here’s hoping you will join us. Because when we change sports for the better we also change the world for the better.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books