Sport and children’s spirituality: an Australian perspective

Abstract

The benefits of sport and physical activity are endorsed by a number of professionals as a means of improving children’s health and their sense of well-being, and their unity with the natural world, other people and the Transcendent. For children, sport is a spiritual source of joy and wonder. Using Champagne’s ‘spiritual modes of being’, my recent study of Victorian children demonstrated their heightened sensory awareness, enriched relationships and robust sense of personal identity, arising from active and passive participation in sport. The children in the study seemed to benefit in each of these areas from Australian culture’s high value of sporting participation and achievement.

Keywords:

• well-being
• spirituality
• sport

Notes

1. Th ANZAC experience refers to the Australian (and New Zealand) myth of Australians as heroes and comrades, even under defeat. The historical origin is the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, which is regarded as a defining point in establishing our identity as a newly-established nation. ‘The Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy’.