We had a very successful Footy Father’s Day event this morning. We held the event under blue skies, despite the threatening possibility of strong winds and rain. The central area of our school was packed with children with members of their family enjoying the morning together. I did not undertake a head count, though there was only just enough space between people for the deluge of balls of all description to pass without hitting people. It was definitely an advantage to have had the gift of excellent peripheral vision.
I enjoyed watching the activity of the children as much as the parents connecting for a conversation over a juice and a pastry. Whether your child held you close for the morning, or seemingly ‘dumped you for the attraction of friends and activities, it was constantly affirmed that they valued your attendance. As did our staff.
The morning was a visual feast, as everyone sported the colours of their favoured team from their preferred sporting code. There was plenty of AFL teams represented, but also teams from the English Premier League, Rugby Union and even one from the IPL of cricket.
In the last newsletter, I wrote about the initiative of the student leadership team who are planning a Belonging Day, and mentioned how the team is working to understand the issues around culture, nationality and ethnicity. The value of this imperative was especially evident today. Our allegiance to sporting teams and codes redrew the nature of personal connections and eliminated boundaries. Strangers were suddenly united as friends by the similarity of the jersey that they wore. Personal conflicts were seemingly massaged away by the same means. We found new ways to connect. Brotherhood and sisterhood were fostered by these ‘costumes’.
This morning confirmed several things to me about our community:
1. Our diversity is a great blessing. We are by proclamation the body of Christ. Our presence together affirmed that today.
2. We are keen to come together to connect and celebrate.
3. Being in partnership to foster family is a core value of the school, and we were delighted to play our part in affording some increased opportunity to make another connection to build memories.
4. Belief is alive and well in our community. Through Footy Father’s Day today, we affirmed that we hold connections as important, even those that speak of mild competition. We declared our allegiance to teams and connected past that to our common humanity.
That is what we were really celebrating; albeit under the guise of ‘Footy’.
As a parting note, may I take this opportunity to wish all the fathers a Happy Father’s Day on Sunday. In the case of those of us who are apart, may it be a day to recall the best of memories.