Sport has the power to change the world, it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair!
The Springboks released an incredible video ahead of their game this weekend, making a powerful statement about standing together!
The video starts off with the Springboks explaining who they think about when singing the national anthem. Their families, the sportsmen who stood there before them, themselves when they were little kids watching the older generation Springboks but most of all, they think of South Africa!
“When we are about to sing, you can see us pulling each other tighter. It shows that no body can break this brotherhood we have and the longer it takes the tighter I pull everyone towards me. It’s a powerful symbol.”
The team make a powerful statement by asking the question; What if we all sang our national anthem arm in arm? What if we all stood together arm in arm, all the time?
“Regardless of who you are, or where you come from, we’re linked up and part of a bigger family.
Imagine a nation that stands together no matter what!”
The video is a beautiful reminder of that World Cup moment where Nelson Mandela proved to us that sport has the power to change the world!
Mandela stands as one of the 20th century’s most notable figures for his efforts to end apartheid. And while he used a combination of methods to dismantle South Africa’s system of institutionalized racism, sports ranked high on the list. Mandela realized the transformative and unifying power of sports, and used that power to make changes that protests and diplomacy could not.
In 1992, South Africa had been awarded the Rugby World Cup, and Mandela allowed the competition to proceed, even though rugby was a decidedly white-leaning sport. The South African national team, the Springboks, had only one non-white player, and blacks hated the team for many reasons, seeing their green jerseys as symbols of apartheid repression.
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But Mandela convinced the nation to pull together as one to root for the Springboks, in part because of one astonishingly brave gesture: before a crowd of 65,000 that was almost completely white, Mandela strode onto the field wearing a Springboks jersey. The crowd, silent at first, began chanting “Nelson! Nelson! Nelson!”
South Africa would go on to win that game against New Zealand, and South Africans both black and white celebrated the victory. Mandela had not just passed a test, he’d rewritten it … and in so doing, created a new, more hopeful future for his nation.
“Sport has the power to change the world,” Mandela said.
“It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
Watch the incredible video below:
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