(S)port (H)ope (O)pportunity (W)orld
SHOW – SPORT GIVES HOPE, HOPE LEADS TO OPPORTUNITY, AND OPPORTUNITY WILL CHANGE THE WORLD!!
A NEW ACRONYM FOR HOPE IN THE WORLD!
SHOW (sport, hope, opportunity, world)
In Major League Baseball(MLB), they call the pinnacle, when a player reaches the Major League level, the show. It’s called the show because the countless hours spent practicing, working, believing, hoping, and a little bit of luck and circumstance all come to this magical moment. Now, players display their talent in front of thousands of fans watching live in the stadium and possibly millions through television, radio, and internet. The show is a display of athleticism, talent, and remarkable feats many wish they could do, but few ever are capable. Hitting a fastball at 95 m.p.h., catching a line drive coming at the head off the bat at 130 m.p.h. and diving into mid air to rob a hitter of a single. All these feats and far more happen in the show, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.
As well, every other major sport in the world has it’s equivalent of the show in the MLB. Horse racing has the Triple Crown, American football has the National Football League (NFL), and soccer has the World Cup. Regardless of the athletic talent, there is a show for athletes to share their gift with the world.
But what if a child who was talented and had a God given gift never was able to kick a soccer ball, throw a baseball, or bounce a basketball? What if the world never got to witness the heroic feats of the great Spanish player, Messi? What if the world never knew Michael Jordan? Unfortunately, there is probably a soccer player somewhere in the world that is better than Messi could ever be but we will never know him/her because he/she will never have a ball to kick or a coach to teach. And while that is sad, it’s more than just disappointing and sad, it’s tragic. Moreover, in all probability the lack of infrastructure and investment in youth sports programming around the world could be part of the ‘why’ we can’t solve poverty.
If you look at the most prosperous nations in the world and the poorest nations, you’ll see that countries with higher gross domesitic products (GDP) have more advanced sports and arts programming. While countries with poor GDP are devoid of amply supplied sports/arts. Could it be that by not supplying the sports and arts programming to children living in the poorest economies we are missing important hard wiring of the brain in these children to help themselves pull out of poverty? Certainly, the research points to this conclusion and a large body of evidence gives reason to believe giving sports/arts a serious investment in the most under resourced countries could be part of a poverty alleviation strategy.
Watch this to learn more about the impact of sports as a catalyst for development
Watch this to see hor our Gear for Goals project is poised to be the solution to this huge hole in the heart of youth around the world.