Hockey: MY Family’s Religion
Parts One and Two
Scholars from around the world have studied the phenomena of sports as a form of religion for many years. In my family it is sport specifically ice hockey, which has functioned like a religion, given that we devote our lives more strictly to it than any organized religion. Celebrity fan Adrian Chiles explains my family’s stance on the subject perfectly, “It is years of your life, your family’s life, tradition, the time spent together watching, discussing…” (Guest, 2013). This is precisely the case in my family. If I were to pinpoint any aspect of my family’s life that creates the strongest bonds among us, it is definitely hockey. This is not to say we all support the same team; but the rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens has nothing on the rivalry between my family members who support opposing teams. Proudfoot explores this phenomenon in his article “Hockey As Canada’s National Religion,” pointing out that, “NHL devotees are divided by the tribalism of supporting different teams,” (Proudfoot, 2011).
Although we may support rival teams, hockey is central to the communality of my familial relationships, bringing us together whenever an event including Canada’s most cherished sport arises. Hockey has given my family a greater sense of community, which allows me to relate with Victor Turner’s concept of Communitas. “The sense of belonging, of face-to-face encounter with others in a community, is what Turner calls communitas. It is an experience of the sacred or holy. The experience of communitas is universal, it is the same in both cases (the pew or the bleacher), it simply is labeled differently,” (Bain-Selbo, 2008). Although we all identify with different teams, and may feel like we belong to different communities in the team sense, we all belong to the Canadian hockey community, and more so, to our hockey family’s community.
My family’s love for hockey stems from something much deeper than just watching games together. The men in my family have made it a generational tradition to be successful hockey players. Of my family’s eight cousins, me being the only girl, seven play or have played ice hockey in an organized league (the only exception being me!). Each of our fathers (five brothers, and one brother-in-law) also played hockey for many years when they were young men. As well as being devout and dedicated spectators, we have spent countless hours of our lives participating in the beloved game of the north. There have been many early Saturday mornings I have spent shivering in the bleachers, filled with warmth by the pride that takes over me while watching one of my cousins play the icy sport. I had the opportunity to sit down with my cousins to talk about our family’s religion, and I learned what the meaning of the game is for my loved ones. “Hockey isn’t just something that is part of my life, hockey is my life. Whether it be watching my favourite team night in and night out, taking part in fantasy hockey pools or playing the game myself, the great game of hockey never stops for me and it’s something that will be part of my life forever,” (Michael Liegghio, Age 15).
Psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explores the concept of “flow”. He defines this psychological process as, “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it,” (Bain-Selbo, 2008). My cousin Marc Liegghio exemplifies the notion of “flow” perfectly:
“The feeling of your skates carving and grinding down the ice. The wind pressing against your face. Winding up your stick, feeling like you can touch the ceiling and unleashing a deadly shot towards the approaching goaltender, feeling the flex or your hand on your stick. Knowing that it’s a for-sure shot that will add numbers to that score board slightly above your eyebrows. There’s nothing better…” (Marc Liegghio, Age 17).
This also employs Eric Bain-Selbo’s idea of euphoria in association with sports. “The sense of euphoria is central to the effort to show how the emotional intensity associated with [sports, specifically hockey] can be compared to a religious experience,” (Bain-Selbo, 2008). The way Marc explains his experience on the ice is, as he says, difficult to explain. Although he was able to put into words how he feels while playing the game, it took him a while to compose himself and explain this euphoric experience. I can only compare this to ineffability, “a common (non-) descriptor of mystical religious experiences, and is considered by some to be constitutive of a genuine religious experience,” (Bain-Selbo, 2008).
But hockey not only encompasses our lives in the traditional sense, but it also infiltrates many unconventional practices in our everyday lives. My family, my home life specifically, employs the Integrating Foci of Implicit Religion, “People can have multiple in depth commitments. Implicit religions will operate at a number of different sites, [and] one of the powers of implicit religion is the ability to integrate all of these focuses simultaneously,” (Harris, 2014).
The home I grew up in both as a child and then as a teenager and young adult were and still are heavily adorned with hockey paraphernalia. My father has a complex hockey identity, being a dedicated ball hockey player all his life, favouring the Chicago Blackhawks as his number one team, following the Toronto Maple Leafs religiously, and idolizing the great hockey legend, Bobby Orr. After sitting down with the man (my father) who first introduced me to the great game of the north, I learned his feelings of his lifelong role model. “You need to look up to a hero to set your goal…Bobby Orr was mine,” (Enio Liegghio, Age 50). After asking him when he fell in love with the game, he shook his head in exasperation and sighed, “I’ve been a devoted fan from birth,” as a huge grin spreads across his face. In that moment I saw my own father transform into a youthful little boy, imagining him playing street hockey with his brothers, as the Canadian snow flutters down, melting the moment it touches their hot faces. The collection of sports memorabilia my father has collected over the years is quite impressive. Much of my parents’ basement is decorated with his sports collection, with a special dedication to his all-time favourite hockey player, Bobby Orr. “[Edwards] association of superstar athletes with gods calls the accuracy of his comparison into question, because sports heroes are living, physical, visible actors, while the gods, for all their presence and potency, remain invisible and non-material,” (Price, 2000).
This past June he was fortunate enough to meet his lifelong hero as a birthday gift from my mom and I. But the thematic element of hockey spread much further than just his gift. For his milestone 50th birthday, we ensured he was surrounded by items of his most cherished sport. Among other adornments, his birthday cake and cookies were embellished with authentic Chicago Blackhawks insignia. He was thrilled to see his love for hockey incorporated in his birthday celebrations.
Overall a sport, specifically hockey, is an example of implicit religion — especially for my family. “The study of implicit religion begins from the premise that the things that we would call religion or religious are more often encountered in non-religious context,” (Harris, 2014). We encounter the sacred site of religion in the magnificent home rink for the Toronto Maple Leafs while enjoying our team play at the Air Canada Centre in the heart of Toronto. As Professor Harris states, “Implicit religion is committed to looking for how religion can be found in non-religious content,” (Harris, 2014) which is what this article’s intent is dedicated to.
Works Cited
Bain-Selbo, Eric. “Ecstasy, Joy and Sorrow: The Religious Experience of Southern College Football.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 20 (2008), 13 pp.
Guest, Ryan. “Football: The Modern Day Religion.” YouTube. YouTube, 20 May 2013. Web. 16 Nov 2014.
Harris, Dr. Jennifer. “Sport as Religion.” Religion and Popular Culture, Lecture Nine. Jackman Humanities Building, Toronto. 10 Nov. 2014. Lecture.
Price, Joseph L. “An American Apotheosis: Sports as Popular Religion.” In Religion and Popular Culture in America. Ed. B. D. Forbes and Jeffrey H. Mahan, 180–200. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Proudfoot, S. (2011). Hockey as Canada’s National Religion. Telegraph-Journal.
