On March 21, 2023, Japan's talisman Shohei Ohtani threw his final pitch against American star Mike Trout in a packed Miami stadium in front of a record crowd from around the world.
Trout, Ohtani's former MLB teammate and good friend and one of the best hitters in baseball, swings but can't connect with the ball. Otani's batted ball curved to the left and just missed the ball. Launch the trout. Ohtani's compatriots rush onto the field to celebrate.
Japan won the Grand Classic (baseball's answer to various World Cups) on American soil. The Americans lifted the trophy after a narrow 3-2 victory, losing on the international stage to their traditional national pastime. Japan has excellent players and this game has been loved in the country for over a century and so far he has won his Grand His Classic twice in 2006 and his 2009. .
It was a historic match for the two countries, who are closely allied, but the two countries have played other important matches in the past that helped repair more strained relations. This is how Australia, whose Sports Diplomacy 2030 Strategy and PacificAus Sports Program have been on the fringes of our country's foreign policy approach, can better connect with Pacific nations.
Sports, especially baseball, have helped strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship since the painful memories of the conflict were still fresh. In November 1945, just months after the end of World War II, he was deployed by the U.S. Army to Japan. They, including many who fought in the Pacific, connected with local people through baseball, creating goodwill and fostering cultural connections. Sports made a major contribution to postwar Japan-U.S. relations, helping to foster ties between the two baseball-obsessed countries.
Australia has an opportunity for sports diplomacy in the Pacific, with the potential to achieve closer cooperation and closer ties while making a much smaller jump geographically than baseball.
In a region where strategic competition is increasingly a concern, Australia can complement security agreements and other formal arrangements with events as simple as close soccer matches.
Alongside lofty concepts such as “international diplomacy,” “grand strategy,” and “geopolitics,” there is room for soft power sports diplomacy strategies that are practical, impactful, and deliver tangible results.
Nothing ignites passion and unites communities across cultural and socio-economic boundaries like sport. At its best, sport crosses borders and language barriers across all age groups and between socio-economic groups better than any other cultural modality. This is a powerful diplomatic tool for governments to capture the attention of domestic and international audiences.
Illiberal countries are engaged in sports diplomacy. Think of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the annual F1 race in Azerbaijan, or China's construction of a stadium in Honiara, but these are not about infrastructure or diplomacy, but about fundamentals. It is essentially a sport. Sports are used to change public perceptions, alter national images, and obscure human rights and other human rights violations.
Democracy has an advantage in sports diplomacy. Australia and its Pacific neighbors are proud sporting nations. Sport brings Australians together like no other, like the Matildas' World Cup campaign.
Australian sporting history is full of heartbreaking moments, including the Ashes Test, Cathy Freeman's Olympic gold medal, the Australian Open, the Bledisloe Cup and even Stephen Bradbury's improbable gold medal in speed skating.
There are also several Pacific Islander Australians, including soccer great Tim Cahill (Samoan-British/Irish-Australian) and rising star Matilda Mary Fowler (Papua New Guinean-Irish-Australian). Contributions are also included.
Just as the United States and Japan bonded over the WBC last year, we need to share high-profile sports moments with Pacific Island teams.
In 2023, the Australian Government announced its support for a National Rugby League (NRL) team based in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This has received mixed reviews so far.
The Australian Government and the Australian Rugby League Board could provide financial support of $60 million a year for 10 years, so PNG could have its own team and compete internationally against Australia's (and New Zealand's) strongest teams. become.
This policy builds on the foundations laid in northern Queensland, the region most passionate about rugby and closest to the Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a long-term relationship with PNG Rugby, hosting the Queensland Cup, one tier below the NRL, since 2013, which includes the Port Moresby-based PNG Hunters.
The Hunters won their first premiership in 2017. They are pegged as a feeder team for a promising PNG NRL team, playing that role with the NRL's Dolphins based in Redcliffe.
The Hunters' home stadium in Port Moresby and national free-to-air television coverage in Papua New Guinea highlight the popular appeal of the initiative.
Further supporting the team and PNG Rugby is the development and grassroots efforts, with $5.5 million invested in developing academies for young talent in PNG (including the impressive Penrith Panthers Academy). with support). Australia financially supports the Australian PNG Schools Rugby Tour.
As Prime Minister James Marape reiterated last week, Papua New Guinea has many opportunities in rugby league alone. The match is a uniting factor for the Tongan nation and, given Tonga's strong performance at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup, potentially uniting the wider Pacific region. Future opportunities could also extend to other sports such as rugby union and soccer.
NRL's PNG-based team practices smart foreign policy. Let's run with it.
