In the UK, soccer is by far the most popular sport. But in the best, most elite boys’ schools (Eton, Harrow, Winchester, etc) they tend not to play soccer, but rugby instead.
Why rugby? Because it’s easy to arrange. Why is it easy? Because it’s a game that relies on diverse talents, meaning most of the boys can find a place on a team.
The big, fat, beefy boys can play Front Row. The small, nimble boys can play Hooker or Scrum Half. The skinny, fast boys can play Wing. The tall, lanky, lumbering boys can play Number Eight. And so forth.
It’s not a sport like say, basketball or wrestling, which tends to favor one kind of body type over another. So if you’re a headmaster with a big group of boys under your charge, all different shapes and sizes, all needing their daily exercise, rugby fits the bill.
Inclusivity, in other words.
And it seems this thinking applies to the business world, as well. Some researchers from Gallop found out that the best performing business teams tend to to be inclusive and diverse, to allow in the widest possible range of talents. No surprises there.
[PS Rugby was actually invented at an elite English boarding school, Rugby College, an hour North of London, in the early 1800s. That certainly makes sense.]
