Strand: Movement Skill and Performance

God has blessed us all with bodies which allows people to participate in sport, exercise and all kinds of fitness. Sport and Exercise is not only very beneficial for our bodies but also is an opportunity to share in fun, sportsmanship, team building and appreciation of the wonderful talents that people have. As the Australian Catholic Bishops remind us:

'We the Catholic Bishops of Australia want to celebrate the gifts that sport brings to our country and to encourage all that is best in it. Those gifts are gifts from God. But we also need to look at another reality: the times when sport and sports people abandon their ideals, when other interests turn people into commodities, or when sections of our community are excluded from opportunity and joy.' (A crown for Australia, Australian Catholics Bishops Conference Social Justice Statement 2014-15, p. 3).

It is really important that we value the benefits of exercise, sport and fitness but we also understand how our bodies are a gift from God and we are called to use our bodies as a gift to others.

As Pope Francis said: 'Engaging in sports, in fact, rouses us to go beyond ourselves and our own interests in a healthy way; it trains the spirit in sacrifice and, if it is organised well, it fosters loyalty in interpersonal relations, friendship, and respect for rules' (Pope Francis (2013), Address to Members of the European Olympic Committee, 23 November 2013)