Sunday April 6th Inaugural United Nations International Day of Sport for Development and Peace: What is Your Club Doing?
posted March 14 2013
Sunday April 6th is the inaugural celebration of the United Nations International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (#IDSDP on Twitter). The declaration was made by the UN General Assembly in August 2013. So what is your club or team organizing for the day?
Rugby even though one of the most warlike of sports has the most to teach about peace. Its culture embraces a fearsome clash for 80 minutes, no quarter given, but then after the game its considered mandatory to forgive all transgressions and join your opponent in a postgame celebration regardless of what happened on the field. Its one of the unique aspects of rugby culture. It breeds respect for your opponent not hatred… and respect in the long term breeds peace.
If you were to distil some of the lessons Rugby teaches about Peace into a few words, some of them may look like this:
War on the Field, Peace After PLAY RUGBY
Forgive your brother, even when he knocks you down PLAY RUGBY
Give 100%, Sacrifice for the Team, Earn Respect PLAY RUGBY
Give a hit, Take a hit, Respect the ref PLAY RUGBY
So what is your club doing to spread the message? If you have an event planned for April 6th, email it to us and tweet it using the hashtag #IDSDP let the world know about Rugby and its connection to the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
Mark Bryant
editor@bcrugbynews.com