Why practice a sport? To be in good health ; to be in shape ; to meet people; to be active; to romp ; to develop skills; to learn to defend oneself; for adrenaline; to surpass oneself; to impress those around you. The list is very long. In fact, there are as many possible motivations as there are people who choose to practice a particular sport. But do we practice a sport to identify with a nation?
National identity is only part of the identity of a human being. This has several dimensions, including individual, family, professional, social, cultural, national or religious. Each of them has many facets. Playing a sport can be one of them.
But what about a political party or a government that plans to make a sport, say hockey, a national sport? This would imply that such a sport would become one of the markers that would define the identity of this nation. Several questions then arise. What is the link between individual identity and collective identity? How does a national identity develop? What are the roles of individuals, political parties or governments? What constraints does national identity risk imposing on individual freedom? How does the sense of belonging come into all of this? What is to be understood of the sense of pride in belonging to a nation?
That a government wants to promote the practice of sport is one thing. Health prevails with its scientific justifications. That he wants to promote a national sport is another. Politics prevails with its ideological justifications. So, I am suspicious and I question the intentions and motivations of this government.
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