The Healing Power of Sport

This week I had the privilege of attending the opening ceremony of the 7^th Invictus games, held this year in Vancouver & Whistler.

I must confess, I knew nothing of Invictus, and I expected even less attending the opening. In fact, I was merely going for the entertainment acts.

Allow me to share with you all.

Invictus means “unconquerable”.

The Games were started by Prince Harry, known these days as the Duke of Sussex. 

Can’t say that I was ever a fan, not of the royals (ok who didn’t like Diana) and not of Harry’s.

Honestly, the fact that he did a Netflix series pushed me from indifference to distaste. 

Google has informed me that Harry served in the British army for ten years. He trained as a pilot and flew an Apache, “the most technologically complex helicopter in the world”. Apparently, he served in two tours in Afghanistan.

Wish I’d known that before. He’d have had a few more stripes going into this. 

Vancouver was flooded with veterans, some in full dress, some missing limbs, some on prosthetic legs, others in wheel chairs, crutches- the lot.

Around the time that he left the army, Harry started this initiative known as the Invictus Games, giving sick, wounded veterans a field to compete. 

He believed that the Games would “demonstrate the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and demonstrate life beyond disability” and boy, do they ever.

500 competitors from 23 nations participated. Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, USA, Canada, UK, Brazil, Denmark, Germany. They entered the arena with pride, their flags, and varying  pause lengths as they crossed the stage.

Vancouver was flooded with veterans, some in full dress, some missing limbs, some on prosthetic legs, others in wheel chairs, crutches- the lot.

I got to B.C Place early (thanks to my keener sports-fan friend Donna). I was thankful that I did. 

Sponsored by ATCO and Boeing, four shiny silver drone operated dolphins floated through the air, along with an enormous drone powered humpback whale. As an event planner, I was mesmerized. Boeing could have sprung for a couple more whales though.

We had the opportunity to watch so many of the uber inspirational videos on the jumbotron, created on the competitors. Their stories on what they’ve been through in life, what they’ve overcome, and how the games have helped them, in many cases, saving lives. The emotion was palpable.

One man had been homeless and an addict, another suffered from such severe PTSD she couldn’t cope, she found herself having no purpose after spending her life in the army. 

James Gendron was a bag piper who’d played for 63 repatriation funerals, when the bodies of the fallen were returned home. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to pick up his bag pipes since, yet he played centre stage surrounded by our First Nations drummers. 

They were then joined by 100 bag pipers in their traditional garb. It was pore raising. 

Where the hell did they get so many bag pipers from?.

There were impassioned speeches given by our Premier David Eby, addressing the present US, Canada conflicts, stating that as a politician, “it doesn’t matter what the politicians say” and that “if the US ever needed Canada they’d be there in a second”. He evoked a sea of hand-hearts across the floor from one nations’ competitors to the others’.

Our former CEO delivered a speech as the current Chair of Invictus that made me proud to know him. 

We should do more that fills our souls.

Harry proved himself King worthy delivering a speech that mimicked those of Churchill’s, firing hearts, igniting spirits and invoking tears. His commitment to the cause and his commendations of the athletes were, well, I’m a big freaking Harry fan now, let’s put it that way.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin sang the Invictus anthem. A poem by William Ernest Henley. 

“It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE, I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL”, are the words that resonated.

We should do more that fills our souls.

Katy Perry entered the arena accompanied by an army band belting out her hit “ROAR” in an outfit made for a superstar warrior, but she rocked it.

Noah Kahan, who has spoken openly about his mental health journey, had everyone on their feet, dancing and singing his hit “Stick Season”.

There wasn’t a person in that arena that left there uninspired or uplifted in some way.

Later in the week I had the pleasure of witnessing Brazil win gold against Nigeria in sitting volleyball and it was something to behold. The fight and spirit of those competitors, some with one leg, some with just a portion. How the hell do they move so fast? I can barely get on the floor, let alone move rapidly across it chasing a ball while defending a court.

In so many ways, their struggles must be so much harder than those of Olympic athletes. 

In fact, I had to remind myself that I wasn’t watching the Olympics. Despite the limbless humans in front of me, all I saw was GRIT. They define it. They embody it.

What’s our excuse?

Photography credits: Sharon De Freitas.