Congressmen and Sport

In celebration of National Youth Week, the National Council of Youth Sports and Active Policy Solutions hosted a sport event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, July 24th in the foyer of the Rayburn House Building. Soolmaz joined the two Congressmen as they spoke to the valuable life skills that sport instills in the development of youth. Sport has played an integral part in the lives of both Congressmen. Representative McIntyre recently earned his black belt in Taekwondo, a Korean form of martial arts while Congressman Jordan was a four-time NCAA wrestling champion with a record of 150-1. The Representatives were presented with awards that recognized their efforts on the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports.They kicked off the event by sharing personal stories about the positive influence sport training and coaches have played in their own development as individuals. Most notably, each stressed the transferability of skills learned on the field to life and vice versa. An eight-time US National Karate Champion and world medalist and PhD student studying sport diplomacy, Soolmaz highlighted the value of “scholar-athlete” skills by leading both a martial arts demonstration and discussions with attendees. She focused on how sport has empowered her to excel on and off the court as an athlete, scholar and individual.

Soolmaz was joined by colleagues from the American Amateur Karate Federation and the Center for the Study of Gender and Conflict, where she currently serves as the Public Affairs Liaison. Sport has been dubbed a universal language, particularly in grassroots efforts that attempt to build bridges through working in teams toward a common goal. The Sports on the Hill event advocated a “P.L.A.Y.S.” concept where sport is believed to: promote Physical activity among all segments of our society; foster healthy Living; strive to make Accessing physical activities easier by removing barriers; encourage positive Youth development activities and outcomes; and improve the Safety of participating in physical activities. These concepts have been utilized by a number of domestic and international NGOs for the purpose of building common ground,reintegration, peacebuilding, development, and empowerment.

Sport’s visibility in this community is increasing as it builds upon past successes. The goal is to help today’s youth become tomorrow’s responsible leaders through the vehicle of sport programs. At a more core level, below the abstraction of the P.L.A.Y.S. framework, sport emphasizes mental toughness, persistence, responsibility, and the saliency of teamwork. Given this, there is a very real potential to design social and diplomacy programs that inject and reinforce such qualities into our society. Within the umbrella of policymaking, sport can be used in a structured way to complement development missions of institutional structures such as youth organizations and schools - consider the rampant issue of bullying. If a collection of scholars, sport practitioners, and policymakers can create a combined plan to leverage this angle, sport will truly serve as a universal language at both grassroots and diplomatic levels.

The Hill is a ripe place to start discussions around developing policies that utilize the benefits of sport. It showcases the fact that bipartisan cooperation and communication are indeed achievable when focusing on commonalities. Take for example the two Congressmen; they agree on and share similarities about the imprint that sport, their coaches, and teammates have left on their identities throughout child and adulthood and work together despite being on opposite sides of the aisle. The thaw in US-China relations enabled by President Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy shows that sport can be a powerful tool to bridge gaps between nations. It is an example and precedent upon which to build future successes. The impact of sport touches our interactions and development at a raw, human level like very little else does. Consequently, it has the unique characteristic to transcend time and sometimes even political barriers. Let’s capitalize on that.