On The Importance of Sports at Dartmouth
Athletics and sports have played an integral role in human life from the time man settled down into agricultural communities. Neolithic man built the Cave of Swimmers to depict how they spent their leisure time. From gladiatorial combat in Ancient Rome to Cricket in early modern England, sports have served as valuable forms of entertainment. However, the question remains — why do we need sports today, especially at Dartmouth?
Having played a number of sports over the years, I imagine it is quite like how Russian aristocrats would go to war like a sport in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, while their lack of merit and communication allowed Napoleon to trounce them for a time. There’s a definite thrill to being absorbed in the moment, your world reduced to dichotomy: beat or be beaten. This reduction, instead of feeling artificial, is quite liberating because the thrill of having a concrete immediate purpose and a body to lend to that task overtakes all else. One is lost in the moment with only the goal in sight.
These moments of deliberate conquest impart characteristics onto the athletes, similar to war, but likely less enduring. Beyond those physical improvements, the sessions of courage, leadership, and, foremost, willpower improve the body and mind.
Courage and leadership are fairly self-explanatory, as they are required to be party of any team, athletic or otherwise. Willpower, though, through the definition of personal principles, concrete goals, and willingness to endure physical pain that are so contrary to usual hedonistic life are those lessons that sporting uniquely imparts. The euphoria of that feeling of conquest, the pride, quickly surpasses that which one gives up when the self is actualized.
The adage “pain is temporary, pride is forever”, while trite, remains ever apropos as it defines the physical and mental costs of the desired outcome of all those who succeed — glory. Sporting, and the attention we place upon it allows us to experience a pedagogical form of self actualization that could not be mundane in any other form.
The Ancient Greeks, too, recognised the importance of a balanced body and mind. In Ancient Athens, exercise and sports were an integral part of the life of citizens. They strongly believed that a strong body and a strong mind were essential to the pursuit of a good life, and consequently spent time engaging in athletic competitions, producing the Olympics, or debating philosophy at the Platonic Academy. Plato saw this as essential for moral enrichment; William Jewett Tucker echoed this when he remarked:
“Athletics have a rightful place in the modern college. They represent a discipline, a culture, an enthusiasm, which are a part of college life. Let a wise and generous provision be made for this interest, not as a concession, not as a means to some ulterior end, but in recognition of one of the varied elements which go to make up the training and the culture of the college-bred man.”
Tucker understood the importance of those values I laboured to inculcate in myself on the playing field. These are the values that would do us well to remember and imbibe in ourselves, for they play a critical role in the world inside and outside of the College on the Hill.
Addendum: A student-athlete reader, ’21, writes in: “It keeps you focused. In most classes, you have a handful of assignments, and only a few big exams over the span of 10 weeks, so most of the time you simply sit and listen to someone talk. In any sport, rowing especially, every day is a chance to compete, and once or twice a day you can see if you are improving. I’d liken it to a class where every day, the professor would lecture for about 10 minutes, then give an essay prompt, and less than an hour later, they send out listings of the results, in order of proficiency. Not exactly a lay up.”
