The tone of irreverence, the Tutu chuckle that rises to a cackle, fills the air. The archbishop is on stage, and in his element. His interviewer, Michael Parkinson, a veteran British talk show host and sports writer, struggles to get a word in as Tutu works the audience of 500 people near St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The theme is “Beyond Sport.” The room is filled with people who are on their own crusades and using sports beyond its simple goals of fitness and triumph. Some want to wean street gangs off lawlessness through rugby, or fight crime in Rio de Janeiro through boxing, or use soccer to educate kids on the dangers of land mines in Sarajevo.
“Beyond Sport” is a catch-all phrase used by a London-based organization to recognize what is going on beyond the playing fields. We hear social workers who give their all to use sport’s popularity and discipline to alleviate inequality and wasted human potential. Some, like Dikembe Mutombo, a former National Basketball Association giant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lucas Radebe, a former South African soccer captain, lend their fame to HIV/AIDS work in Africa.
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