What Makes a Good Game?

By Kim Wearing (VCE Teacher)

Recently I had a weekend with a variety of games that I was either playing in or watching. One was a satisfying game but ended with a loss; one was a classic loss of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and one was a convincing grand final win. Despite the different types of sport - Hockey, AFL and Basketball - there was something very similar about each game.

The first game was Hockey and we lost with a 5-3 loss, but we all left the ground satisfied. We had played well and as a team we worked well together. Each one of us played the role we were supposed to play and the only problem was that the other team were just slightly better on the day. The second game was AFL and I watched a team (not my team!) play a brilliant fourth quarter that turned a defeat around. There were some strong players, but it was a strong team and it was impressive, albeit disappointing, to watch. The third game, was a convincing grand final win for Belgrave South Under 19/1s basketball team. While there were moments of greatness, what was more impressive was the teamwork - they are a team that has played together for a few years and it showed.

After these games I found myself reflecting on what makes a good game. The easier answer is of course if it’s a win. Surely that’s the first thing we ask someone when they talk about a game they have played. But is just winning really enough?

Sometimes it can be easy to fall for the trap of thinking it is about winning. It is about getting that particular achievement; but how much better is it to remember that you are part of a team. One of the things that has struck me in my time at BHCS is that it is a team. It is a community where each person has a role to play and each person is important. I play on the back line in hockey. I could get frustrated that I never get any goals, but that’s not what it’s about. I need to play my role in my team so that as a team we can feel satisfied, happy and functioning.

In the Bible, in a letter to the church in Corinth, Paul describes us as a body in which we are all important, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be." (1 Corinthians 12: 17-18). Each person plays their part and that is success. That is what winning is really about.