Some Questions⤒🔗

Is it appropriate to celebrate in a special way when your opponent errs? What message is behind the celebration? What other messages might be perceived by others? What standard are we to hold to?

For non-volleyball fans, an ace is when the person who serves has his serve hit the ground on the other team's side without that team touching the ball. It is usually the result of an error by the defending team.

I think celebrating an opponent's error is inappropri­ate. Regardless of your motivation for doing it, the end result is that the other team, or at least one player on the other team, will definitely have had their faces rubbed into the mistake. That violates the commandment to love your neighbor. I like the encouragement the students give to each other on the court, but celebrating an ace or any player's error is simply not fitting in the context of Chris­tian living. It does not build up your neighbor.

How should we cheer as Christians during a game? What state of mind and heart should we be cultivating when we sit in the stands and watch our teams play? What message about your beliefs/ worldview does booing or negative comments in the stands send to people?

The short answer is appreciation for good play and best efforts. Train our eyes to see and our hearts and hands to applaud good plays regardless of which team makes them.

This to me is a very visible way to witness our faith. As parents attending the games our children play, we do so in a community that watches. Just as we see a coach or a team doing something we think is inappropriate, so others are watching us. When we question the refs call even just among ourselves, when we cheer only for "our team" what message are we sending? The same applies when watching games at home or school, in PE class, etc. When Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world, he means what we do shines forth to the world. You cannot be hidden. So be careful to shine in a holy manner (Matt 5:14-16).

What should a player's, coach's, parent's response be to poor calls by the referee? Why?

All of us have to have the game face of love on. When we do we might be surprised by a poor call but we will not have the reaction of, "What are you thinking? Do you have eyes?!" As a spectator the response to a referee should be to thank them and to encourage them in their task. Express your appreciation for the work they did and if they start to apologize for a call assure them that you understand it is hard to referee and that mistakes are bound to happen. The designated player on the team may thoughtfully and respectfully approach the referee, but the rest of the players and fans better not be rolling their eyes, shrugging their shoulders, holding out their hands, looking at each other with the clearly theatrical sort of looks that are intended to make the referee think he must be wrong. Once again, all of this is to be driven by the greatest commandment.

Under what conditions might a player spend more time on the bench? Is there a limit to how much bench time any one player should get?

Playing on a team comes with responsibilities. If a play­er skips practices, has a poor attitude, does not try his best, is a poor team player, then bench time is appropriate and in some cases absolutely necessary. Ideally, the coach would initiate a conversation with the parents when there are concerns of these types. Parents should know their children and be honest about their strengths and weaknesses in terms of effort and attitude. This may be a time to help your child's growth in self-awareness, faith, and holiness. Parents who see their child spending what seems like a disproportionate amount of time on the bench can approach the coach at an appropriate time and respectfully - and maybe even after prayerful preparation – ask why.

I think that any player who spends more of their time on the bench than on the court/ice/field should have it ex­plained to them why that is so. There is nothing wrong at upper levels of competition to have "benchwarmers." Pro­fessional hockey teams and baseball teams always have backup players, and that is accepted. At most school levels of play, if the goal is to have each person doing his or her best, then a lot of the pressures around this concern will be addressed. There is no doubt that the player with a low­er level of skill will cause a higher incidence of errors and poor plays, but that can be viewed as a challenge to cause the rest of the team to work on supporting and strength­ening the weakest link which may not be the player but the heart of the other players, their parents, and/or the coach. This strengthening will not happen if the weaker players are simply left to sit on the bench.

When a school has tryouts for a team, some children will be told they did not make it on the team. Some may interpret the coach's decision as a judgment on their worth. It is critical that the coaches, players, parents, and the cut student all see and communicate that it is not a judgment. It is simply a statement that the coach lovingly and careful­ly delivers, and that he shares to the cut student that maybe his talents lie elsewhere and/or maybe his heart's desires or his self-discipline needs re-direction. This may be cold comfort for the child or the parent of a child who really wants to play on the team and who willingly gives his best but is simply not skilled enough or temperamentally con­trolled enough relative to the other players.

What impact does technology have on our attitudes towards sports? (I.e. television and Internet making viewing so easy and so many hours of viewing possible.)

Watch your young kids play sports that they have watched professionals play. The children often mimic the dress; they try to mimic the plays and unfortunately the attitude, aggression, and fighting often. For too many kids the sports become disproportionately important to them. They seemingly effortlessly memorize the names of players, names of teams, remember game schedules and starting times, lengthy amounts of statistics, etc., while not being able to reliably recite something simple like the Lord's Prayer, their upcoming memory work for catechism or class, books of the Bible, the Ten Commandments etc.

What worldview is most evident in how professional sports are presented? What impact might that have on us and our children?

We should all be able to see and admit that profes­sional sports is about winning for personal or team glory  and financial benefit. God is not the object of glory. Some players profess that that is their goal and it may well be. However, when their pursuit of that goal collides with God's commands, then what should happen? We can ad­mire Tim Tebow, but when we believe that Sunday is a day of rest and the day that our church calls us together to worship, what do we conclude about professional sports requirement that you play, travel, or practice on that day? We are not to judge other's faith or salvation since those things are beyond us, but we certainly are to ask ourselves what we should do in that situation. I know personally that too many are led astray by this temptation.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

As you read this article you may have thought to yourself that I am hopelessly naïve. I think that obedience to God will often be viewed as naïve and unattainable, but does that make any difference to what God expects from us? He expects us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. He expects us to take captive every thought, to be ambassadors of his. Put your intensity into doing that.