THE shirts that sports players wear today may be made from different material after extensive research for suitability but at the end of the day, a shirt is a shirt.
What is more, whether the shirt is used by a professional team or a school team, it is likely still to be made from similar material. The same is true whether it is a club or a national team. It is a shirt!
It was a strange phenomenon therefore when players used to say that they experienced a magical tingle when they put on the national shirt for the first time. The reality is obviously there was no magic potion in the international shirt. Indeed, perhaps many folk who may have expressed that emotion may have a different view now as replicas of national team shirts (as well as clubs) are available for everyone to wear. They do not tingle when people put them on. What was different?
Of course, those replicas nowadays cost a lot of money though not as much, it must be said, as some famous shirts are sold for.
The shirt that Pele wore in the World Cup final against Italy in 2002 was sold at auction for almost US$2 million but that fades into insignificance when we discover that the shirt which Diego Maradona wore in the ‘Hand of God’ match against England in 1986 sold for over US$8 million. That shirt must tingle greatly!
The national shirt, however, is indeed something special. What is more, it is what drives many people in their sporting efforts.
In a recent interview following a successful innings in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, Sean Williams declared that "I'd like to leave the Zimbabwe Cricket shirt in a better place than what I found it.”
Many will be aware that such a view has long been held by the hugely successful All Blacks rugby team whose aim is to “enhance the jersey”, to “pass it on in a better state”. They play for the shirt! The shirt is everything to them.
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Of course, they are not talking about the physical condition of the piece of material that makes up the shirt. They are speaking of the huge honour, privilege and indeed responsibility it is of representing the country. They realise that the shirt is actually representing values; they are continuing history. It is not a right for anyone to have but it is a responsibility. It is in truth the honour of representing the country that drives the players in their efforts.
In previous articles we have been considering how it should not be the fear of failure that drives us, nor simply the will to win but more the love of playing. However, we should understand that the greatest drive for any player should be the honour of representing the team, whether it is the country, the province or the school. It is an honour to be selected for any team and the trust and honour that have been given us to represent the team should be sufficient cause to drive our efforts. Pupils in our schools who are selected for the team, whether it is the First team or a C or 5th team, should have a sense of the honour that goes with it – and therefore give their all.
There are a number of reasons for that. Firstly, pupils need to realise that many people have represented the school in the past (just look at all those old team photos lining the pavilions), some of whom have gone on to greater success but many have not, and the current players have the responsibility to carry forward the legacy those players left behind. They are all part of the long line of people putting on the colours and badge of the school and carry with it all that it represents. Secondly, they need to realise that many others would just love to have the honour of representing the school at the highest level (just look at the faces of ‘juniors’ watching their elders playing).
In the first place, it is an honour to play sport – many are wrongly deprived of that opportunity. Then, being selected for a team is an even greater honour. Playing for any team should not be taken lightly or casually, for all that it represents. It has been a selection and with it comes a responsibility. The honour of representing the team, be it any team at school level or club or national, of wearing the shirt, must therefore be taken seriously, wholeheartedly, proudly. In fact, it should be the most obvious, greatest and most significant motivation we have to play sport. It really should send a tingle down our spine, whatever shirt it is. We wear a legacy – we must wear it well and hand it on in better condition, no matter the cost. We can bet our shirt on that – even $8 million is not enough!
Tim Middleton is a former international hockey player and headmaster, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Association of Trust Schools Email: [email protected]
