LDS and travel ball

[29dad]

it's not necessarily an LDS exclusive issue - they just happen to take that particular comandment a little more seriously than most. it's the same commandment that prevented Sandy Koufax from pitching on Saturdays. If you know your Bible you'll remember the fate that awaited the man who was merely gathering sticks on the sabbath. It did not end well for him. But many in the LDS faith, for example Steve Young, Danny Ainge, Johnny Miller, Jack Morris, etc., etc. (there's probably hundreds of Mormons in pro sports) were and are able to work on Sundays without losing their membership rights.

So I would say that it's not the LDS faith that prevents them from playing on Sundays, it's their own consciences, after prayerful consideration, that prevents them from playing on Sundays.

 

[maddball44]

I'm not trying to be disparaging to anyone's religion. I grew up a sports nut and was not allowed to play a lot of them because of church on Sunday and Wednesday. I resented it a lot. If anything took place on those days/ nights, church ruled the day.

The way I handle it with my kids.... we're not involved in religion;what so ever. I can honestly say one of the biggest reasons is because of this stance my parents took.

So I guess the moral of the story is, relax a little and it'll go a long way. A few Sunday's in the summer won't make them immoral people.

 

[Comp]

I grew up LDS although I have not practiced in 30 years. While it is the church teachings to keep the sabath holy, it is ultimately personal choice. As was mentioned above there are plenty of mormon professional ball players who choose to play on sundays, and the funny thing is the church is more than happy to promote them as members of the religion. I have not read the entire thread but did catch a few posts indicating how do you work around losing key players every sunday? Especially when sunday is the important day.

This reminds me of I believe it was the China olympics, and if memory serves it was the Australian womens basketball team had 3 or 4 players who were LDS. There ended up being a game on a sunday and those players chose to sit out. Im sorry, but personally I dont agree with their decision. They are at an event representing their country and as a member of a team you make a commitment to be part of that team. If you cannot or choose not to participate on certain days because of personal beliefs, then maybe the spot should be given to another who can contribute fully.

Also forgot to add, for anyone not familiar with the LDS religion, its not just sundays. On monday nights they are suppose to have family home evening, it used to be wednesdays they had young mens/young womens meetings, saturdays they usually have a young adult dance in the evening and once a month the family is suppose to have an in home visit from visiting teachers.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

This reminds me of I believe it was the China olympics, and if memory serves it was the Australian womens basketball team had 3 or 4 players who were LDS. There ended up being a game on a sunday and those players chose to sit out. Im sorry, but personally I dont agree with their decision. They are at an event representing their country and as a member of a team you make a commitment to be part of that team. If you cannot or choose not to participate on certain days because of personal beliefs, then maybe the spot should be given to another who can contribute fully.

I would only fault the players if they didn't disclose that up front. No foul if the Aussie's chose to put them on the team anyway.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Thanks all. I have no opinion on their choice, that is personal and I respect it completely, I am just trying to see if I can find some options to give them. I was hoping that there would be some LDS teams out there in SoCal that I could put him in touch with that already have something in place to accommodate their decision not to play on Sundays.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

My students coaches know they are LDS, at the tryouts. I have 4 pitchers that cannot play on Sunday. One is 8th grade, 2 are freshman and one is the top junior pitcher in the city. They only run into problem coaches periodically.

One Saturday, the oldest girl's team was playing in Las Vegas. Her mom flew her home, late Sat. night, so she could be home on Sunday. So, they do go the extra mile, to make the girls available.

The girl's sister had no problem playing ball at Eastern AZ. University. But, she did not play on Sundays.

 

[mjhickm]

OK, I feel I need to chime in here. My family and I are active members of the LDS church, both my DW and I hold leadership callings in our local Ward. We have had two DD play travel ball the oldest decided to quit before 16u but played high school ball and is now serving a mission in Argentina. The younger DD has a bigger passion for it and plays both weekend and HS ball up until last year my DW was her coach.
Yes it is frowned upon to play on Sunday but it is a personal choice, we have always been upfront with the teams we have played on and have sent the kids without us on the second day of a tournament when it is local. We will usually go with her when we travel. Yes we do get some grief about it but all of our church friends know what a passion my DD has for it and she does try and make it as much as possible and the coaches have worked with us because they want her on the team.
BYU does not play on Sunday UofU and Utah State are State Schools so they do. What I find strange and have not found a straight answer for is that all the athletes that are at BYU (besides football) had to have played on Sundays to get were they are at and play at the D1 level. It is a personal choice some choose to and some don't.

 

[flarays]

My daughters team played every weekend possible up north. We made church work for everyone whether it was Saturday night or Sunday. Like MOMO'sDad said its up to the families - not the church. If you want to do it you can. Heck - these days you can get ordained online for $50! Hold your own service in the hotel lobby.

 

[guero_gordo]

Had two LDS girls (that I know of) on DD's teams, both played on Sundays, fwiw.

 

[Michael N]

Utah and Idaho have lots of tournaments that are Friday , Saturday tournaments due to the high number of LDS folks who live in the area . I can also think of 2 different teams local to the Boise area that are made up of mostly LDS players and do not play on Sunday . I also know a bunch of LDS girls who play on Sunday (heck my DD's AC is LDS and they never miss practice or games on Sunday) . I really think it is more of a personal choice for the girls and their families .