Opinion: The Power of Friendship

By Ephraim Viadex

Ephraim Viadex

There’s something I’ve noticed about SWAU, and all Adventist institutions for that matter, that's eaten at my brain over the last four years. No, it's not the cafe food, or the dorm curfew, or the worship credits. It’s the camaraderie and the collaboration that takes place between the several Adventist universities in athletics. You may call it fellowship, but I call it the power of friendship.

Last week, SWAU hosted the annual AcroFest event, a four-day acrobatics event where hundreds of athletes across numerous academies and universities cycle through acrobatic clinics, engage in games and mini competitions, and finally prepare for and perform a joint Acrofest show on Saturday night. As well as competing, each night, a speaker addresses the teams on a spiritual topic, delving into themes that profoundly impact spiritual, leadership, and

sportsmanship growth. This interesting fusion of gymnastics and acrobatics unites

student-athletes from diverse universities and high schools, cheering each other on while

watching different styles of performance. You may be reading this thinking, “Wow, this sounds

like a wonderful event,” and I’m here to say, I agree with you. Acrofest is unlike any other

acrobatics event in the country, and you’ll come to that conclusion too if you did a simple Google search. So what's my gripe, huh? There must be an issue with all this if I’m bringing it up, right?

Well, actually there isn’t. You see, Acrofest isn't the only sporting event that SWAU participates in collaboration with our sister schools. Soccer, volleyball, and basketball all have their own “friendly tournaments,” in which universities like Andrews, Union, and Oakwood participate, annually.

Before I dive deeper into my analysis, let’s clear the air. I am not Adventist. Nor did I

attend an Adventist academy growing up. I came to SWAU in the fall of 2020 to play basketball, and along the way, my perspective, as well as my faith, has grown. Nonetheless, as an athlete who’s played competitive basketball, at some of the highest levels in middle school and high school, playing basketball here at SWAU was a bit of a culture shock. And the tournaments we competed in, alongside our sister Adventist universities, always fascinated me, and for one reason.

The fellowship factor. There's always fellowship in these tournaments and events, whether it's

right before a game, after a game, Friday night vespers, or even church on Sabbath morning,

followed by lunch….together. Whether there's a devotional being given, or everyone’s just

hanging out, there's always a point made to fellowship across teams. As if praying together after games wasn’t strange enough, the camaraderie that's shared throughout the three or four days of competition was always an interesting detail to me, and frankly, I support it. For most competitive athletes, we’re trained to hate our opponents, and we’re trained to channel our hate amid competition, which means playing extremely hard, talking trash, and toeing the line between fair and unfair play, if that means beating our opponent. At some of the highest levels of sports, that's the mantra, winning by any means necessary. In most sports, you’re supposed to shake hands with your opponents after the game, and sometimes, a simple

handshake isn't easy, let alone sharing a meal with your opponent.

Competition brings the best out of athletes, even if it brings out the worst in their attitudes or

demeanor, and that's how I’ve always played. Especially against my friends, I’ve always played

with an edge, talking trash, playing physical, dirty even, because at the end of the day, it's me

versus the man opposite of me. But within the bubble of Adventism that athletes compete in,

there’s an environment of real sportsmanship, sportsmanship that's fostered in a way

completely different from anywhere else in the United States. I’ve got friends who play collegiate sports at other universities, Division 1, 2 and 3, and even at private, religious institutions.

There’s nothing that quite compares to how Adventist athletic events are curated.

A lot of people may think this kind of fellowship between athletes of opposite teams is bad for

competition. People bash professional sports like the NBA today for the lack of “hatred’ that

opposing players have for each other nowadays. The jersey swaps, the handshakes, the laughs and giggles and the bond opposing athletes display nationally make people question the competitive spirit of sports these days. But, I say come check out an Andrews versus SWAU match. The tournaments for soccer, volleyball, and basketball that Andrews, Union, Oakwood, and SWAU participate in every year are very competitive, they draw large crowds, with athletes playing hard, and fans cheering harder. You’d think there were awards or prizes to be won after these matches, but there's none of that. These student athletes play for their pride, their schools’ pride, and they play to win. But once those games are over, there's a mutual respect, that at the end of the day, yes, my school may be better than yours, but you’re still my brother or sister in Christ. And as strange as that sounds, coming from a competitive athlete, who’s unfamiliar with the Adventist culture, I think that’s a beautiful sentiment.

There's a balance to be found in competition and fellowship, or sportsmanship rather.

We’re all told as athletes to display sportsmanlike conduct, but we don’t always practice that.

But the fellowship aspect that takes place in Adventist athletic events puts sportsmanship in

practice. Yes it may be a little uncomfortable, sitting next to some random girl, who elbowed you a little too hard the day before, in vespers Friday night, but if you have close friends or family members then you may understand this: We treat the people we love a little colder, and a little harsher sometimes, but it's all love at the end of the day. You may have a fight with your brother in the afternoon but find yourself cooking him a meal in the evening, and that's the essence of friendly competition. You don’t have to hate your opponent to beat them. You can still play hard, you can still play physical, maybe even a little dirty if that's your cup of tea, but once that clock hits zero, you can still love your opponent. We’re all in the brotherhood and sisterhood of our respective sport, as well as the familyhood of Christ.