Sports and Christmas

As Christmas approaches, I thought I would do something a little different today. Call it a history lesson if you will. It's not specific to football, unless you count the European term for soccer. It is, however, one of my favorite Christmas stories.

If you recall what you might have learned about the First World War, the manner of warfare was typically fought via trenches. Each army would dig in along the front lines and between the two would form a natural "no man's land." Obviously, this was a contested, perpetually unsafe area.

With the end of the year 1914 closing in, and no end to the war in sight, many soldiers found themselves celebrating Christmas in a trench, across form a multitude of foreigners that wanted to shoot them. Hardly the holiday spirit. In the week leading up to Christmas, however, something magical happened. It was completely unofficial and unplanned (from Wikipedia):

Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas of 1914, during the First World War. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides – as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units – independently ventured into "No man's land", where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides had also been so friendly as to play games of football with one another.

A temporary truce; a ceasefire. And soldiers from both sides met out in no man's land, caroled, exchanged gifts and souvenirs, and, yes, played football. This was in the midst of the bloodiest war the world had seen to date. Christmas and sports. Pretty powerful if you ask me. Check out that article I linked if you're interested in more information. I grabbed the picture from there.

Have a great holiday and remember any troops in your life. Pray for peace one day, but until then, give thanks that we have opportunities to unite people under a common cause (however brief it may be). Sports are one piece in that puzzle. Remember that you are not only a student-athlete, but also an ambassador for our school, and it's what you do out in No Man's Land that can speak the loudest to your character.

In our community, our school, and our program, we certainly have a lot to be thankful for.