9/11 shocked the sports world
After 8:46 a.m. on that fateful Tuesday morning, all sports quickly vanished from everyone’s mind. But sports played a very important role in the rebuilding of a nation’s confidence.
The games of football and baseball were turned into just that…games. Athletes were turned into real people with real emotions.
“It made a lot of people realize what’s more important,” said Georgia College & State University Sports Information Director Brad Muller. “A game isn’t that important.”
The professional and the NCAA Division I sports had the most impact on American athletics at that time. Major League Baseball was entering the last month of the regular season and about to head to the playoffs. The National Football League was entering its second week. The NCAA had just started its fall sports in August. At Georgia College & State University it was just one month into the 2001 fall semester. Everything was starting to become normal, and college students were just settling into their environment when terror struck.
“First of all I thought it was some kind of movie or something, said Assistant GC&SU Bobcat Tennis Coach Julia Roundkovskaya. “I didn’t think it was really happening. It seemed so unreal. Then when the second plane hit, then I realized that something terrible has happened.”
Roundkovskaya was a senior at GC&SU last year. She has played tennis for the lady Bobcats for the last four years. She had a unique perspective on the carnage of Sept. 11. Roundkovskaya was just one of many international athletes at GC&SU. Roundkovskaya was originally from Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the north.
“The country that I came from was actually in a civil war for nine years,” said Roundkovskaya. “I’ve seen all the shootings, I’ve seen people killed. That’s why I felt real bad that it was happening here too. I felt that it was going to be a war between the United States and the Muslim countries. That’s why I was really scared.”
Roundkovskaya, like many of GC&SU’s foreign athletes, felt that it was a series of events that they thought could never happen in the United States.
“Most of our international athletes are not from countries that you would associate terrorism with,” said Muller. “I think that they were a little frightened that it could happen here. We do have athletes that their home countries have been at war forever. Maybe it was a shock for them like ‘wow it happened here.’ American’s don’t even think that it can happen here.”
The attacks made the international students feel scared, but also made them feel like they were truly a part of this nation and shared the freedoms that Americans have and the unity of so many people over a time of such grief.
“I think it affected all the student athletes like it affected every normal student here,” said Muller. “They were shocked and they had a little bit of fear.”
“They [international students] felt just as bad as anyone else,” said Head GC&SU Tennis Coach Steve Barsby. “They wore little American flag pins, even though they weren’t from America.”
Other challenges for the international students were the increased security and restrictions and the changes in foreign policy that changed after the terrorists attacks.
“It was a different situation for me, being a coach of 12 to 14 international students,” said Barsby. “When they [international students] come over, they fly into the big cities. There have been a lot of changes in international policies and immigration. It takes my players a lot longer to get their Visa. I think it’s good. I’ll take the hassle in the
airport to be safe.”
The hassle just isn’t in the airport. After the athlete arrives in America, they must go to the nearest American Embassy and go through a rigorous session of interviews and paperwork.
“They all have to go to the United States embassy for interviews, and it’s a lot more than what they used to have to do,” said Barsby. “Now some athletes have to go in for a formal interview even after they’ve been in the country for a few months they still can be called. In fact one of my players was called in for an interview and missed the first week of classes.”
There are no current athletes that are from New York or Washington areas. But the terrorists didn’t just strike those two cities or just kill people from those cities. They attacked all of America. They killed people of all nationalities and race. All of America grieved together and found little tranquility after the attacks. Sports helped bring a calm and a feeling that America didn’t break or even bend.
“I think sports played a big role in helping bring people back together,” said Muller. “Once they decided to continue with football and baseball there was that strong sense of patriotism before every game with the various ceremonies. The ceremonies helped bring patriotism that hasn’t been felt since World War II. That really kind of united the country and made people realize what’s more important.”
Sept. 11 will be a day inevitably burned into the memory of all Americans whether they were born on the country’s soil or not.
“I think it’s always going to affect us,” said Barsby. “It was the most Americans ever killed in a single attack. I hope it becomes a tribute every year for the families of the victims, firemen, and policemen.”
In many aspects it feels like America is waking up from a bad dream that has lasted a year. The battle still continues. Many troops are still overseas and serving their country. The fight for freedom from terror didn’t end with the bombing of a few countries.
“It was the fact of how so many innocent people died,” said Roundkovskaya. “They were just killing for political reasons, but it was still innocent people and that’s what made it really scary, that anyone can die. It still seems unreal; it seems like a bad horror movie.
The unreal reality of that day last Sept. lives forever in the minds of many people. America will truly never forget.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 13 2002. Filed under Sports.
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