JourneyOnline
IT used to be the rule not to talk about religion or politics at a dinner with people you don’t know.
These days I add sport to that list.
Not because I don’t have an interest in sport, I do.
I love certain sports but they are usually the sports (e.g. gymnastics) that don’t get any media attention and the athletes are not national celebrities or on any kind of sponsorship deal.
I find it frustrating that some sports get so much media coverage, and others (particularly women’s sports) don’t.
So, how do we get more Australians to watch women’s sport?
Get them to play in their underwear, apparently.
At least that seemed to work for the Lingerie Football League, a women’s gridiron league where players wear underwear and gridiron shoulder padding.
Two American teams toured Australia in June to drum up support for the potential launch next year.
While it was wildly successful as far as attendance to games and publicity went, it was criticised by many people, including Federal Minister for Sport Kate Lundy who called it a “cheap, degrading perv”.
These women are true athletes and you could argue that they are getting well paid to do a sport they enjoy.
But would Australians watch it if they were wearing clothes?
I doubt it.
So, what does this say about Australia’s sporting culture and where can the church fit into this world of sport bordering on porn?
How do we, as the church, engage in all aspects of Australia’s sporting culture?
Many high profile and high budget sports have chaplains on staff .
Uniting Church minister and former Queensland Red’s chaplain Rev Lu Senituli said it is an invaluable part of the team structure, particularly for young players trying to deal with the realities of sudden celebrity status.
You could argue that the Lingerie Football League is exactly where the church should be – out where the people are rather than staying in our buildings condemning others.
