Play and Learn

As children we play a lot. Before school starts we rush to the play ground to play hop-scotch and skip rope. At recess we pick teams and play soccer, cricket, dodge-ball or swing on the monkey bars. And so we learn in school in the classroom and in the playground. We grow up and mature, and games become less important to our development.

It is said that as we age it is more difficult to learn, perhaps this is because we have forgotten how to play. As a child we learn from everything we do, it is all new and our brain absorbs everything. When you get older we spend more time working and less time playing. Do you take recess? In between stressful work do you take a break to have some fun? I believe we stay young by remembering to play.

Perhaps we need to keep playing so that we can keep learning.

Get out and Play

This week I heard that the International Olympic Committee had banned Right to Play from the Olympics. This the charity formed by former Olympians to promote sport in developing countries, bringing soccer balls to communities, promoting play.

How does a bureaucratic committee decide to stop a charity from being part of this sporting event? Why and what process is used to make such a decision?

The IOC tries to present itself as a international movement bringing the value of amateur sport to the world. This façade was unmasked with the introduction of professional athletes into team sports. Now they are being further unmasked as they ban a charity that has as its essence the promotion of the purest form of sport, play.

Of course we have no need for the IOC, the Olympic no longer represent the amateur sports movement. It is a corporate and bureaucratic organization that sees only how to capitalize its brand and protect its franchise.