The football of empathy
By: Dr. Conor Hogan Ph.D.
Tags: Sport Psychology, Empathy, Sports, Empathy In Sport, Football Coaching

The football of empathy

Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash

I was 3 years old and I slept hugging that ball all night

-Diego Maradona

(Led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986)

But Maradona was not the only footballer who had such affection for his game. Washington Redskins running back Matt Jones once exclaimed his love for football but also denied he slept with the ball every night when he said:

No I am not sleeping with [the football]…I go to sleep with it on my mind and wake up with it on my mind.

Although he never had the ball in his clasp as he slept, Jones admitted to having football on his mind every day because it was something he loved.

For the love of the game

Love is related to empathy, and love conquers all, even football.

When most people speak about their love for football though, they don’t really mean they want to sleep beside the pigskin every night. Rather, they mean they are in love with what football brings to their life and how it enriches their thoughts when they think of the game.

Football is a special game that unites millions of people around the world. The sport of football is related to a different version of a game in different countries though.

Photo by Zaur Giyasov on Unsplash

Different forms of football

In the United States, ‘football’ is generally referred to as the official game of American football. Annually, the Super bowl which is the biggest competition of this form of ‘football; has audiences of over 100 million people.

Across South America, Europe, and the rest of the world the term ‘football’ is often referred to as the game of soccer. The biggest competition in the soccer world is that of the World Cup which is held every four years and has over 1 billion viewers to its final game.

In other countries, there are other forms of football too. The growing popularity of rugby reaches over 800 million fans when the World Cup finals come along. In Australia, they refer to football or ‘footie’ about their game of Australian Rules Football (ARF). Audiences of over 4 million people have been recorded watching the annual Aussie Rules Grand Final.

Although football is different everywhere, it connects people’s differences all around the world.

What is Love?

Love represents an intense feeling for someone or something. It is about having or showing affection. Often, attraction is part of this very complex feeling also.

When people say they love another, it means they have an intense feeling for them or are immensely attracted to them. They usually feel compelled or unconditionally attracted to the other person’s needs, ideas, hopes, dreams, and attitudes. Love has been referred to as a drug, as it can take over a person’s mind and has been known to change people’s behaviors because of these intense feelings.

Love and Empathy

Although people can love other people they can also love other things. Ways of life, jobs, and hobbies are examples of how we, as humans, can fall in love with something that is our life at a certain time.

Empathy refers to how we share a timely feeling with another person and in so doing, feel how they feel. Active empathy is about being compelled to act as if you felt this feeling and act on it as result whilst considering the impact that this action would have on the person from whom which you are having empathy with.

Empathy is intrinsically linked with showing love to another.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

The love of football connects the love of people in the game

Although there are those that love their respective games of football for the thrill of playing the game, there are many others who love it because it brings people together.

The sport of football in all its various guises allows people to kick a spherical object and see how the actions of that kick dictate the reactions of the players around the ball as it takes flight.

A similar thing happens with empathy.

When the feelings of showing empathy occur, it creates an inner need to react to this feeling within a person. As a result, an empathetic gesture occurs. Big or small, this gesture can show compassion to another person and make them feel connected.

Football through its general need to coordinate each line of a team in an offensive or defensive manner is a team game. Each play of the ball dictates either an offensive or defensive reaction from the opposing team that is being competed against. The simple law of physics dictates that with every action there must be a reaction. In football, we see this all the time and it’s the way it plays out that excites us as viewers.

In empathetic terms, the same is true. With every action of empathy, there is a reaction.

The football wave of empathy

When the great Maradona showed his magical football ability in the 1986 World Cup it created a stir when the crowd was watching. The World Cup of that year was hosted by Mexico. There, the crowds felt the same energy from one another as they witnessed their mutually adored game of football and reacted to it together. Before long thousands of people stood momentarily to wave in unison around the periphery of each stadium mimicking a collective action of appreciation for the football that they were witnessing.

This social phenomenon became known as the Mexican wave.

Photo by Anthony Cantin on Unsplash

As the word wave comes from the Old Norse ‘vagr’ it means ‘water in motion’. As there were so many people at each game and they were so coordinated in their ability to wave, their efforts seemed as if there was a choreographically designed collective movement to represent how the football made everyone feel at the same time.

However, there wasn’t. It was just empathy at a game of football, in action.