The Matildas: Sport as Public Religion
Last Tuesday I was at Sydney Airport. It was the morning after the Matildas played their final World Cup group game in Sydney. The airport was awash with people wearing gold and green soccer tops. Saturday night's quarter-final saw the Matildas break TV rating records, being the most watched event since Cathy Freeman won gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
There is far more going on here than just the rise of female sport, or soccer over other sporting codes. In our secular and pluralistic society, sport is filling the void of shared public religion.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) is one of the fathers of Sociology. His interest is in religion – not its beliefs, but its function. For Durkheim, humans are social animals who gather in cities, and societies, and form cultures. But these societies need a 'glue' to hold them together. For Durkhiem, religion provides the shared beliefs, values, symbols and stories that allow a disparate group of people to become one people, sharing one culture.
Modern Australia has sanitised itself of public or civic religion. Furthermore, multi-culturalism has resulted in religious pluralism. Religions are now perceived as facilitating tribalism and oppression, not unity and fraternity. The causes are multi-factorial, but our society increasingly feels divided as we struggle and split around topics like The Voice, identity politics, the environment, and migration. In such a moment, "The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 has brought Australia together in a way we haven't seen for years. We can't wait for Wednesday. Go Matildas!"[1]
Identity is presently both craved and elusive. This is not just an issue for women and Barbie. It's an issue for our nation – given multi-culturalism, our strained relationship with first nations peoples, and post-colonial guilt, it is unclear what it means to be Australian. Identity is both individual and corporate. We find ourselves both by looking inside and around ourselves. We yearn to be part of something bigger than ourselves. This week we can all breathe a sigh of corporate relief. We feel good about being Australian – because the Matildas won. (Thank goodness we are not French!)
Sport's role as public religion reaches beyond just creating a sense of belonging to something bigger. Sports is now in the business of virtue signalling. Think of pride round, or indigenous round, or what happens when a high-profile athlete commits an act of domestic violence. As I type into Google search "How many ma_" - google auto-finishes the sentence for me "How many matildas are gay/straight?" This World Cup is about bringing gender equality (women vs men) and about normalising same-sex attraction.
Sport as public religion has another feature – it creates new high priests. Sam Kerr is an accidental role model, inspiring young girls to chase their dreams and reach for the stars. Images of Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler, and Ellie Carpenter can be found everywhere, including in corporate advertising campaigns.
As fascinating as all this is, I also find it disturbingly shallow. Is Sam Kerr a fit role model? I know nothing of her character, virtues, or nature. She can run fast, kick and head a ball. She is an impressive footballer, but is she a model person? Sports virtue signals are based around racism and inclusion, but what happened when the world cup was in Dubai? What do football codes have to say about global over-population, or excessive consumption, or other complex social issues? And is Sam Kerr or Israel Falou now qualified to speak publically and with authority on such topics? What happens if your team loses? Is identity only celebrated in success?
I love sports. I just completed my 47th season of competitive soccer. I have enjoyed years of exercise, friendship, and affable rivalry and competition. Oh, and I do like winning and scoring goals. But to ask sport to be more than this is to turn a good thing into an idol. Idols inevitably disappoint, and take more than they give.
By all means, get on board the Matildas bandwagon. But we will only find our meaning, values, and identity in deeper wells than sporting field, and in more inspiring figures than athletes.
[1] Lewis Martin of Channel Seven, ‘Matildas v France World Cup match pulls the biggest TV audience of 2023’, as cited by abc.net.au on 13/08/23.