The Role of Sport for a Disaster Zone

One of the most inspiring stories from last year was the Superbowl victory for the New Orleans Saints. Unless you were under a rock for the last few years, practically everyone on the planet within earshot of a radio would have been aware of the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. There was a quote from Drew Brees, the New Orleans quarterback. "We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us," said Brees, the game's MVP. "What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time, and it's better than expected." Try the entire world behind you Drew. Not only were the Saints the underdogs, but many people around the world wanted something special for residents of New Orleans.

Remember the Rugby World Cup in 1995. The All Blacks ruled supreme for the initial parts of the tournament but came unstuck in the final against the hosts. Now it could be argued that food poisoning had its role, but that would be insulting to the host nation, who played like it wasn't just a rugby game, but a symbol of the new South Africa. A nation prepared to embrace all of its citizens. In truth, though it hurt as a New Zealander, it was far more important for South Africa as a nation to win and to show the world, Francois Pienaar holding aloft the trophy with a jubilant Nelson Mandela applauding in the background. In New Zealand, it would have just been an empty cup, to quote Doc Hudson.

So exactly five weeks on from the Christchurch earthquake, Canterbury people have something to look at and cheer for. Although they haven't played in Christchurch yet, or will for the remainder of the season, the Crusaders are putting a big smile on our faces. Not only are they winning, they are winning in style. There is even talk of them being the greatest Super Rugby side ever. They have just played the Sharks in London and have been exciting not only the home fans, but the expat population and even the Northern Hemisphere media.

Add to that the Black Caps bundling out the Cricket World Cup favourites unexpectedly and now through to the semi finals where they play Sri Lanka tonight, then you can have many things to smile about. Especially as they have been written off already by Cricinfo. They have already done better than expected and anything more they do will be awesome.

So how does having a winning team help people in a disaster zone? It's not going to help people build homes or save businesses. It's not going to help rebuild infrastructure or even more poignantly, bring back loved ones. But it will provide a distraction and a happy one at that. And even though many Christchurch people will not see the Crusaders play this year, they will provide a boost to morale, which is extremely low at the moment. So while we grapple with what has become our new normal, we can pause and appreciate that our team is doing its part in our regions recovery. That is inspiring for us all.