On Sunday July 24th 2011,
Uruguay played the final game against Paraguay for the America Cup (Copa América) at the Monumental Stadium
in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The rivalry between Argentina and Uruguay is
legendary. Both countries had 14 wins in this tournament up to 2010. They were
tied, and Argentina was dreaming of breaking the tie by winning the title once
more in their own soil, but it was not meant to be. Uruguay beat them on the
way to the final, much to the disbelief of the Argentineans who were one of the
favourites together with Brazil.
And you may be asking yourself by now, how
soccer can teach something to academia? Let me explain…
Uruguay, a small country in the Southern
Cone of Latin America, with 3,500 million people, has been known for the
quality of its soccer, but for a long time, they were also known for not
playing fair. Under the leadership of O. Tabárez, the Uruguayan team showed its
brilliance during the World Cup in South Africa, and now in Copa América.
The team that nobody expected to win has
gained the respect and admiration of many by the quality of the players, by
their sense of pride for the country they represent, by the respect they have
towards each other, and by the unselfishness of their plays. Passing the ball to a team-mate that has a
better opportunity to score is not an uncommon event for the Uruguayan team. They
pass the ball with the precision that comes from hours of practice and with the
understanding that it doesn’t matter who scores the goal: when one of them
scores, they all do.
The purpose of the game is to score more goals than the
opponent, and the players of La Celeste
(their jersey is sky blue –celeste in
Spanish) understand this and execute the plan with exquisite precision. They
celebrate each play together. They enjoy seeing others in the team succeed and
they help and support each other at all times.
I was reflecting on their behaviour, their
sense of fair play, their cohesiveness as a team and their extraordinary sense
of togetherness and pride, and I thought, wouldn’t be incredible to achieve the
same level of performance in academia? Where the size of the institution is
not what really counts, but its sense of purpose, pride and deep sense of community?
Wouldn’t it be priceless to join in the victory of the individuals in a
department, for example, because the success of one in the team is actually the
success of all? Wouldn’t be rewarding to treat each other with respect and
consideration instead of trying to undermine the work of others by ignoring
their victories and enjoying their defeats? Wouldn’t be a great way to mentor
students in an indirect way, by showcasing the high level of unity within
departments, programs, Faculties, etc.?
Sadly, this is not what happens in most
campuses, and rivalry and opposition, the protection of one’s own discipline to the detriment of others, is not uncommon. Faculty members sometimes seem more
concerned with, and consumed by, their own personal agenda than the well being of
the group. Frictions and competitiveness take precedent over the sharing of
resources in a fair and constructive manner.
And, so, yes, I believe Uruguayan
soccer can teach many good lessons to academics and perhaps, in the near
future, we could be joining together in the celebration of everyone’s success:
students, professors, institutions and the country as a whole. Because, when
one wins, we all do!
Mercedes Rowinsky
3M National Teaching FellowAssociate Professor
Department of Languages and Literatures
Wilfrid Laurier University
