The worlds of sports and spirituality hold a unique relationship in the hearts of athletes and coaches across the globe.

Mind, body and spirit must be equally addressed and balanced to create a whole, steadfast and capable person or athlete, but sports and religion don’t stop with one individual. At the Interfaith Dialogue on Religion and Sport, a panel of capable religious scholars in and around Knoxville will come together to address the matter of religion and spirituality in a world consumed by sports.

“The presentation will provide insight into how different faith traditions view the role of sport within their faith,” Dr. Robin Hardin, associate professor of the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies, said. “It will provide the campus community an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the differences and similarities in these faith traditions. It will also enable people to see just how intertwined religion and sport — and how important — both are in this region of the country.”

The panel, some of whom met for a similar discussion only one year ago, will be comprised of Father Charlie Donahue, pastor at Blessed John XXIII Parish; Rabbi Alon C. Ferency of Heska Amuna Synagogue; Chaplain Abdel Rahman Murphy, director of the Roots Program at Muslim Community of Knoxville; and UT’s own Chaplain Roger Woods of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and UTK Athletics. While Ashleigh M. Huffman, assistant director of the Center for Sport, Peace and Society at UT, was invited to join the panel, there was a last minute change to her schedule and she will be be unable to participate.

The panel will address everything from the holistic care of athletes to the effect sports can have in worldwide peacemaking.

“When we think about athletes and keeping them fit, we take care of the cognitive side, everybody’s in a degree program. We take care of the physical side, we keep them well; we take care of the dietary side … but there’s a hole inside the individual that often goes untended to and that’s the spiritual side,” Dr. Waller, associate professor of sports management said. “We’re all one mind, body and spirit, so two-thirds of it makes two-thirds of a person, so to speak.”

As a part of the Center for Sports, Peace and Society, Dr. Waller said they have been looking at trends in athletic departments and across the globe to help in their study of religion in the world of sports. While the panel addresses religion from several different perspectives, Waller said they will address how religion and sports work together in society and how to care for an individual athlete from a Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, and so on, point of view.

“They’re going to sit down and talk about the interface between religion and sport from an interfaith perspective,” Waller said. “They’ll be exchanging that way, talking about some of the customs and some of the practices of the faith that would impact athletes …”

“The third major thing we’re going to talk about is a role of sport in peacemaking … not only in the United States, but also abroad. Of particular interest, I think we’re going to be listening to their perceptions about how the Jewish people and the Arab people in the Middle East can use sports as a platform to really do peacemaking actively.”

Dr. Waller said this is a great event for students to join in by coming, listening to and engaging in the discussion, but he is highly invested in the topic as well. He said the topic is something that should speak to a wide range of people, as so many have a vested interest in sports and are heavily influenced and invested in religion and spirituality.

“I think for me the fascination will be (the panelists’) unique perspectives on sport through the lens of faith,” he said. “We take it pretty seriously here in the Western world and it is a serious thing, but also I think when you look at how faith can drive sports or buttresses sports, it makes for a pretty interesting conversation. I think the faith perspectives are going to be very interesting to hear and to process.”

The event will be held in Room 235 of the Health and Physical Education building at 12:40 p.m. today.