Sport Management: Analysis of Roy Keane – Football Player

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Table of Contents

Summary of Biography
Reflection
References

Summary of Biography

Roy Keane, a football player and a book author, is worth mentioning among textbook examples of how dedication and diligence can change the life. Being born in a rural area, in the family of a poor worker, he seemed to have hardly any chance for becoming a successful personality (Keane, 2011). Physical labor as a way to make money, which was dramatically scarce, accompanied Roy since youth; that apparently contributed to his achievements in sports. The psychological component, however, was equally important for his formation and development as an athlete.

Notwithstanding his great desire for playing football at a professional level, which he revealed after several years of boxing, no clubs were interested in Kean initially. He apparently lacked physical abilities as well as technique to enter high-class leagues, for which reason he continued to receive refusals (Keane, 2011). Notwithstanding that, his remarkable perseverance and endurance made him fight to the end not only in amateur youth matches, but in his career ambitions as well. The intensity of the young player that enabled him to overcome any obstacles eventually attracted the attention of Brian Clough, the coach of Nottingham Forest, who became Keane’s guide to big football.

Sports challenges, however, were not the only difficulties that Roy faced on his way to success. In particular, his adaptation to the new environment after joining the above team was quite painful, mostly due to the separation from the family, to whom he had considerable emotional attachment (Keane, 2011). In addition, Roy’s tough spirit, which actually was the source of his outstanding persistence, made effective teamwork that requires flexibility by definition challenging for him. The athlete, therefore, had to work on himself not exclusively in terms of physical abilities, but mentally as well to become one of the greatest football players in history.

Reflection

It is doubtless that the young man who found himself in a foreign country, away from his loved family, and with great responsibility on his shoulders needed psychological support. In fact, Keane received it from Clough, but sometimes in a quite tough form of negative motivation (Keane, 2011). Although the athlete does not feel offended, which actually proves that he is a strong personality, he presumably needed sympathetic spiritual advice as well at the stage of adaptation in Nottingham Forest.

The majority of psychologists who work with sportspeople focus on improving their professional competence and productivity rather than their personal well-being. Even those who realize the causal relationship between the latter and the former are “exclusively performance oriented” (Gamble et al., 2016, p. 188). In other words, such specialists see solving personal issues solely as a way to minimize distraction from sports, not as the critical condition for inner harmony, which everybody needs, regardless of his or her occupation.

In the context of such a kind as the above, the function of spiritual care frequently belongs to chaplains. It is essential to note that spiritual is not synonymic to ritual; simply stated, sports chaplaincy does not come down to teaching athletes to say prayers prior to matches. Rather, its purpose lies in awakening, restoring, and maintaining faith in sportspeople, for which many of them feel disproportionately strong need in comparison with the rest of the population (Gamble et al., 2016). Prayers, in turn, are a manifestation of the inner belief; in some cases, they also can be an effective team-building tool.

The relevance of such a perspective on psychological and spiritual support is apparent from the fact that football players rarely pray for the wins of their teams. Normally, they focus on the topics that are not related to sports, such as their families, friends, and events that happen in the world (Gamble et al., 2016). This allows assuming that Roy Keane most probably would have prayed for the well-being of his parents and siblings. His strong attachment to them would have become an essential point of intersection of him and a chaplain, hence a basement for a trusting relationship. For instance, a chaplain could have asked Roy what he wished his nearest and instructed him to focus on that when addressing the God. The positive emotions associated with such thought, in turn, would have not only inspired and motivated the player throughout the forthcoming match, but also harmonized his personality. The latter actually is even more important than the former is, considering the above characteristic of Keane as an outstandingly persistent athlete but quite a truculent person.

Even if pre-match prayers do refer to the game, its result remains beyond the focus. Instead, players worry about “personal matters,” among which avoiding injuries and performing at the maximum of their abilities (Gamble et al., 2016, p. 186). In the case of Roy Keane, playing perfectly well was his priority when he joined Nottingham Forest, as that was the only way for him to realize his dream. The role of a chaplain in such a situation lies in explaining the connection between faith and effectiveness. Notably, a believer acquires additional inspiration and motivation, which makes him or her derive pleasure from hard work. In a combination with Roy’s perseverance, apparently inborn, that would have made him insuperable. In addition, tranquility derivable from faith could have been helpful in controlling his aggression, which presumably distracted him from improving his technique at the beginning of his career.

Another point that is worth noting is that the scope of a sports chaplain’s activity should not be limited with a single athlete. Spiritual counsellors actually see providing care to all club staff, including adepts of other religions and non-believers, as their duty (Gamble et al., 2016). Such guidance can serve as an icebreaker, in other words, help team members overcome psychological, social, cultural, or other barriers and unite them. This apparently was critical for Kean during his adaptation in Forest. Separated from his relatives, he needed soulmates in his new circle to smooth loneliness, which sense is dramatically demotivating and even can cause depression. A chaplain, meanwhile, could have guided not solely him, but the other members of the team as well; hence belonging and, consequently, a more comfortable integration.

To summarize, the role of a chaplain in the case of Roy Keane after his transfer to Nottingham Forest would have been to assist the athlete in building and/or maintaining faith. The most appropriate ways to do that would have lied in encouraging him to pray for his family as well as good performance, which points apparently were the most important for him at the time. In addition, it would have been reasonable to expand spiritual care to the entire team to alleviate the isolation of the newcomer.

References

Gamble, R., Parker, A., & Hill, D. M. (2016). Football, chaplaincy and sport psychology: Connections and possibilities. In A. Parker, N. Watson, & J. White (Eds.), Sports chaplaincy: Trends, issues and debates (pp.182-194). Routledge.

Keane, R. (2011). Keane: The autobiography. Penguin.

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Sport Management: Analysis of Roy Keane – Football Player

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