reflections on christianity & pop culture: Response to Marica's "Can we REALLY say sports are religious?"

Hi Marica!

I really like your post, however I think that in your discussion of sports and religion, it would help to add a personal experience of determination, passion and endurance found in sport that led the athlete to treat it like religion.

Coming from a competitive athletic background, I understand the pain, pressure, endurance, passion and commitment one has to undergo in order to succeed at their given athletic activity. I remember missing countless birthday parties, semi-formals and family events, as well as seeing my friends go off to camp during the summer and family holidays because I was always in the dance studio practicing or traveling to competitions. Although I maintained to be a strong Catholic and went to mass every Sunday at 8 am (I had to be in Mississauga by 11 for a 4 hour class), Irish dancing for me was my religion. I lived, breathed, ate, thought, and dreamt about dance. For fifteen years, the only music I would listen to in the car, on my iPod or in my room was dancing music thinking up new steps and practicing a new move that I learnt the night before. I spent over 25 hours a week in the studio, and sometimes had two practices a day.. one before school at home with my mom and then another after out at the studio when a big competition was coming up. However, all of the work paid off as for ten consecutive years I held the Canadian title for team dancing and in 2005 was chosen to represent Canada at the World Championships in Ireland. After representing Canada for a few more years, my Irish dancing career came to an abrupt halt when I was placed in hospital with severe kidney disease. To be honest, having kidney disease really does put a big damper on my life, but the real thing that I was most disappointed with was that I was left so weak from being so sick that I could never train the way that I did ever again. Within a month I went from getting ready to compete in England to being never able to competitively dance again. I remember laying in the hospital bed after being told that my body could never handle the vigorous schedule that I was used to and thinking “God, why did you do this to me?” I felt betrayed and left with nothing. Because really, my passion and my personal religion, was taken away from me. The studio was my church, my coach was my preacher, my jigs and reels were my hymns and my satisfaction lay in doing a really good performance. It took me a long time to come to terms with this change in my life, but finally after three years of not competing competitively I have been able to look back on my time with fond memories and realize that I just had to make room for the other passionate young dancers to take my place. Now, I share my love of Irish dancing with little 3 to 7 year olds and instead get great satisfaction in seeing their little faces light up when they master a step.

Phew! What a long post haha. All that I wanted to do is share my experience as someone who has experienced their sport being their religion. I also know that I am not the only one with a story like this. Any high level or professional athlete has the exact same story as me. I remember seeing a Sidney Crosby commercial a few years ago (see below) with him talking about all the events that he missed. I couldn’t help but think that he was really talking about me. To finish I will recite a line that is on one of my favourite t shirts: Eat, Breath, Irish Dance.