Pope Francis Emphasizes Education and Love in Sports for International Symposium on Tennis and Cage Tennis Participants

(Vatican News Network)Pope Francis received participants of the International Symposium on Tennis and Cage Tennis in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican on May 6. They come from more than 30 countries and recently gathered in Rome to discuss the topics of education and training. For this reason, the Pope emphasized the close relationship between sports and education in his speech.

The Pope began by noting that “a tennis or cage tennis coach is not only an instructor of technique, but also an educator”. Starting from the experience of cage tennis, the Pope clarified that a good game must have “a good balance between offense and defense”.

A good tennis or cage tennis player “is not always just about attacking or taking risks, but also about defending”. Similarly, if a coach only teaches offense or defense, the part that is not taught will definitely become a shortcoming for the students.

Therefore, “good educators know how to strike a balance between risk-taking and caution”. In this way, the Pope said, “genuine prudence is like good defence”. In educational work, it is important to “measure the situation well, always keeping in mind the potential of every boy or girl”.

“Educators especially need to train the tenacity of young people. They must not give up, but they have to work hard to deal with those seemingly unreachable balls. Quick and agile athletes can hit the ball back and catch the opponent by surprise.”

The Pope concluded by encouraging everyone to pay attention to the dimension of “hobby” in sports: “If we play sports for other interests, instead of giving for nothing out of love, then we lose the beauty of sports, its harmonious dimension. , sports will become a business. Please always keep this sentence in your heart: My tennis, my cage tennis, will always be my hobby.”

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