Saying "we should keep politics out of sport" both misunderstands and diminishes sport, in my opinion.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately so here's a bit of a thread on it.

Sport is fundamentally about people and communities, whether that's the team you play with, the fans you watch with, or the athletes you admire.

It reflects culture and community and society because it's an expression of those things.

The camaraderie as you leave the field, as you walk down to a game, as you talk to strangers – and know that thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people are doing the same right in that moment – is hugely powerful. So are the rivalries.

People often say sport transcends other "hobbies" or "entertainment" (that's a whole other convo) and that is partly because of the way that it brings people together, on a local and grand scale.

But politics isn't just how you do/don't vote, it's the streets you walk down, the playing fields you use, the time allocated to sport in schools.

Nerd alert! The word "politics" comes from the ancient greek word for "citizens" because it's also about people and communities.

Including and excluding people from sports is necessarily political and it doesn't have to be deliberate or on the level of apartheid for that to be true.

Do poor children have access to cricket or rugby training if their schools don't provide it? That's political.

Have your local playing fields been sold to developers?

Is your sport available to watch on free-to-air TV?

Is the professional team you support struggling because other teams have wealthier backers?

Does your sport get national funding?

That's all political.

Rugby union split from soccer and league because of differences around amateurism and who *should* be playing. That's political.

Various countries created their own footballing codes, in part an assertion of identity (Aussie rules, Gaelic football, etc). That's political.

Soccer debates what is a "proper" owner for clubs, at one end because there is a concern about using clubs as a PR exercise and at the other so clubs like Bury and Wigan don't spiral into administration and devastate fans, especially in local communities.

That's political.

Phrases like "talent doesn't discriminate" get said a lot but it's more nuanced than that. It's harder for some people to make training, to practice outside of training, to show their talent.

Then there is subconscious bias that people are starting to talk about more often.

Amazingly talented sportspeople often make it despite the barriers, small and large, but many don't get the chance.

Discrimination at coaching and senior administration and decision-making levels is a huge issue. These issues are all political.

The history of rugby union clubs shunning those who switched to league was political, women's soccer being banned was political, the 1936 Olympics was political, the sporting tours of apartheid South Africa were political.

Deciding who gets to play sport is political.

The politics of sport can be good and bad but that doesn't make it right or wrong.

You could take every single expression of an opinion that's not about what happened on the field out of sport – doing so would be a political decision.

Sport and politics are about people, the communities we build, the societies we participate in, the ways we identify and express ourselves. You can't separate them.

If you think you can, that might be because the politics of your sport are working in your favour.

I love sport. Following cricket, rugby, and soccer has brought me great joy and wonderful friendships (as well as a right bucketload of misery).

I want everyone who wants to share those experiences to be able to and I'm aware that, for many, they're less obviously welcoming.

Because, one last time for the people in the back, you can't separate sport from society and politics.

There is obviously much that can be said about it but I'm not writing at the moment so I just wanted to get some thoughts down here.

There are many people who can talk about this in more detail than me, if you're interested.

I'd recommend @collinstony as your starter for ten.

Here's a fascinating article on the WNBA, who I believe have a v interesting recent history in this area.

Women's sports seem to have a much greater understanding of how politics and sport can't be separated. The end quote articulates that really well. https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29597337/players-wear-t-shirts-opposing-dream-owner