THAT sport and politics should not mix is an oft trotted-out maxim but the recent convergence of the two has gained momentum in a way that has rarely been seen before. The ‘Take a Knee’ movement began over a year ago, but has become one of the most prominent political protests that sport has ever seen.

13 months ago, when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick remained seated during the playing of the American national anthem as a protest against police brutality towards African Americans, few took much notice. But since then, with Kaepernick switching from remaining seated on a bench to kneeling, ‘Take a Knee’ has gained more traction than almost anyone predicted.

The protest has transformed from one man kneeling into an international movement which even reached the UK last weekend when Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens played in an NFL game at Wembley stadium in London. Twenty-seven of the players from both teams took a knee during the Star Spangled Banner, and it was a striking sight.

Similar scenes have been observed across America in recent weeks with it no longer being a small minority of the players kneeling during the national anthem but rather, a significant proportion.

Donald Trump has, unsurprisingly, got involved, encouraging fans to refuse to go to games “until players stop disrespecting our flag and our country”, before urging for any players who took a knee to be fired or suspended.

Previous political protests which have found their way onto the sports field have, at times, attracted severe criticism, with many observers and sports officials deeming the introduction of politics into the sporting arena as inappropriate, divisive and damaging.

When I was an athlete, this was the stance I took as well – that sportspeople are paid to do sport and it was not beneficial for any one of them to spout their views on political issues that they are not necessarily qualified to address.

However, Take a Knee has changed my mind entirely. That this protest movement has gained so much momentum and support in a relatively short space of time is a testament to the power of sport and there is an argument that athletes are neglecting their duty if they ignore the wider social issues that affect themselves, their peers and their compatriots.

Certainly athletes are not obliged to have opinions about any political or social issue but the power of athletes’ voices and actions, as has been demonstrated by ‘Take a Knee’, is so valuable that it should not be discouraged.

There are few walks of life that are as diverse as sport; certainly, neither politics nor business mirror the general population as closely as sport does and it is arguable that neither does the arts. Athletes have a reach that individuals in most other walks of life are severely lacking so it would be bordering on negligent for any individual who believes as strongly as Kaepernick did about an issue, to wilfully ignore it. And some of the most eloquent commentary on this issue has come from athletes, ex-athletes and coaches who, traditionally, have been told to ‘stick to sports’ as their views on the wider world were not welcome.

‘Take a Knee’ is not a protest against Trump, which is what history may ultimately misremember it as. In fact, Kaepernick first remained seated for the national anthem during Barak Obama’s presidency. That he had the courage to initiate this anti-racism movement is quite breathtaking, particularly considering he is now unemployed, with no team signing him for this season following the expiration of his contract with the 49ers earlier this year.

Kaepernick’s career may have been damaged, perhaps fatally, as a result of his actions but in shining the spotlight on such a pressing issue, it is surely impossible for anyone to suggest he has not achieved something far greater than success on the football field. It is not just athletes who are taking a knee now with musicians Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams and John Legend all joining him in kneeling, along with Georgia Tech cheerleader Raianna Brown, whose photo of her kneeling amongst her teammates who stood with their hands on their heart went viral.

As yet, the ‘Take a Knee’ protest has done little more than highlight one of the most acute issues that currently blights America but that is the first step towards change occurring. And if progress does happen, it will forever be written into the history books quite how valuable mixing politics with sport actually is.