Sports chaplain looks for different results

Pastor Nett Knox, from Pittwater Uniting Church, is the only Sports Chaplaincy Australia accredited female sports chaplain in Australia.

She is going to the Beijing Olympics to support athletes who she believes face enormous pressure.

“Outside of their immediate family, most people (in an athlete’s life) are there because they want something from them.

“They want results. Their coach wants results. Their sponsor wants results. Often, even their friends feel much better if they win.

“For some of them, going home from the Beijing Olympic Games means a lot of personal disappointment as well as, maybe, losing their coach, sponsor, some friends, and disappointing their family. That’s tough.”

Nett said there were over 10,000 athletes competing in the Athens Olympics in 2004. Only 929 won medals.

“That means over 9,000 athletes went home disappointed. Some of those, who went home without a medal, had trained for four, six, eight years.

“There were two suicides: one an American who didn’t make the Olympic team in his third attempt and the second a Greek judo athlete who leapt to her death after an argument with her boyfriend. He later attempted to take his own life by also jumping off a balcony.

“The pressure to win at all costs has, I believe, led many athletes down the path of cheating by taking performance-enhancing drugs.”

Nett said that athletes were continually surprised to find that the chaplains “didn’t want anything from them”.

Nett’s work at the Beijing Olympics will include working with women involved in sports either as athletes or in support roles such as coaching or physiotherapy. As an “on-call” chaplain, her duties will be varied and her working days may be long.

She said, “There are so many things that can happen at an Olympic Games. Chaplains are called on for various reasons: personal tragedies, death of someone in a team or a relative of a team member; post-competition stress; or prayer before, during and after an athlete’s individual competition.

“There is also the hope of meeting with athletes one-on-one for prayer as well as leading a Bible study for a group of Christian athletes.

“While not needed ‘hands on’, I will be spending time with the other on-call chaplains, praying for athletes, the Games and for opportunities to minister and reach out to the Games community.

“Having been in full-time chaplaincy now for over two years, the opportunities to minister to and support athletes have increased amazingly. As a full-time chaplain, I am able to meet with athletes when they need to and when it fits in with what is often a very full and rigid training routine.”

Nett’s life experiences, education and training have prepared her well for the Beijing Olympics.

She has a Bachelor of Theology and Diploma of Ministry from the Australian College of Ministries. She has been a Chaplain in the Athletes’ Village at the Sydney Olympics, 2000 Paralympic Games and the 2004 Athens Olympics.

She works part-time at Pittwater Uniting Church’s Sport and Recreation Centre, working on their Women’s Multi Sport Competition, Children’s Holiday Sports Clinics and as a Futsal Referee.

She serves as a Team Manager for Athletics NSW Teams when they compete in National Competitions such as National All Schools, December each year, and the Interstate Youth Match, February 2008 in Brisbane.

She also coaches athletics for five local schools and has her own squad, as well as being the “strength and conditioning” coach for one of the Pittwater women’s soccer teams.

Being a sports chaplain does have one drawback: she doesn’t get paid; it is an honorary role.

“I’m not paid to go to the Olympics. I have to pay my own way and it costs about $6,000. I am completely living on faith.

“While I have a few friends who support me financially, I really need to raise more funds. It’s exhausting asking for money all the time. Ideally, I would love to have one or two companies sponsor me. Maybe companies that also have a connection with women and women’s health and well being.

“It costs about $15,000 a year to do my job, on a national level. Being the International Representative for Women in Sport requires international travel and I need to be available to minister at high pressure competitions such as Commonwealth Games and Olympics.

“I would love to be able to travel more within Australia and support more interstate athletes, as well as meet with other women who might be interested in chaplaincy.”

Nett said that people can make tax deductible donations to Sports Chaplaincy Australia at www.sportschaplaincy.com.au and indicate that the money is in support of her role as chaplain.

Contact her at nknox@sportschaplaincy.com.au or on 0402 309 326.

Katy Gerner