Youth Sports

As a father of four, three boys and one girl, my family's life is very busy. Time is precious and fleeting. Energy, too, is precious and fleeting. How my wife and I spend our time and energy is important, as well as reflective of our faith and what we believe. But it is also important in regard to raising our children up in the faith, a responsibility that, as parents, we ought not to neglect, for it is our God-given duty.

"Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

How we allow our children to spend their time and energy, as well as with what they spend their time and energy, is a lesson for them. A lesson on how they should live, what they should prioritize, and what they should allow themselves to spend that precious time and energy on... and I should add, money. Though at least with money, it is possible to get more, time and energy are truly limited. But by all three, our stewardship, our faithfulness, will be judged (Mt 25:14-30, Lk 16:1-13).

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Colossians 3:23-24

So, when we consider what we spend our time, energy, and money on, especially as it relates to the lives of our children, why do I allow them to participate in youth sports? What role do sports play in the lives of children who are being raised in the faith? What benefit or reward, if any, does such participation bring to the child's life that is not ultimately vain or futile?

Some may think it is an opportunity to achieve incredible wealth by playing the sport professionally. Or if not professionally, perhaps the child can get a scholarship to college and thus not have to pay the enormous costs of higher education. The problems with this are many, but I'll respond in short.

First, theologically, these goals are not fitting for our faith. We do not chase money. We do not chase fame. We chase Christ. We pursue what is above and what is unseen. If we were to chase such vanity, what does that say about our faith to our children?

Second, generally speaking, the odds of a high school athlete playing a professional sport are roughly less than 0.2%. The odds are still low for a high school athlete to play at the NCAA level, with only about 1.5% making that transition, and not all of the 1.5% that make it are playing on scholarship. These statistics consider the high school athlete, not the middle school athlete nor the 4th-grade boy who is physically mature for his age and dominates the soccer field. How many kids play sports at young ages and yet do not make the high school team or desire not to play for the school team at an older age?

Others may say that by participating in sports, children are able to become healthy and strong. In our day and age, with the way that society operates, we must be intentional in seeking out activities that are good for the body and the mind. The famous Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell embraced this philosophy with his "healthy body, healthy mind" approach to both athletics and mission work in China.

This answer is reasonable, yet it can be argued that youth sports are not necessary to meet this need. There are countless ways that children can be active and thus become healthy and strong without families giving so much time, energy, and money to youth sports.

Even when we consider the aspects of socialization and teamwork that youth sports provide, there are other avenues where children can learn how to socialize with others and work well on a team.

So, why do we do it? Why do my wife and I allow our children to participate in youth sports? Why do we allow such activities to dictate, within reason, our family calendar? While I am sure there remain a number of other answers or perhaps reasons why parents let their children participate in youth sports, there is one I want to focus on. The one I think tops the list for the child who is learning to grow in the faith: learning to glorify God in all that he or she does.

Self-control.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,"

Titus 2:11-12

For both boys and girls, learning how to control one's body and mind is instrumental in growing up in the faith. But how is a child able to effectively learn self-control without risking great consequences of failure? This is where the value of sports, I think, comes into play. Is there a better environment for a child than one where he or she is exerting themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally for a particular goal that they may or may not achieve? And in such an environment, with the provided competition, there exist adversaries and opponents who seek to deter the child's effort or referees and umpires who can make crucial calls that go against the child. Calls that exist outside the control of the child and there is nothing that he or she can do about it. Is there a better place in our society for children to learn how to master their bodies, minds, and emotions, while under great duress and to do so with minor consequences if they fail? I cannot think of a better place or setting.

However... there are risks to be aware of.

First, being on a team with a bunch of boys and girls from other families and various faith backgrounds, or lack of faith backgrounds, will bring exposure to a number of worldviews and practices that are unhealthy and ungodly. Depending on the sport and the group of kids, such exposure may even be worse than what a child will experience if he or she attends a public school.

Second, the coaching that a child receives may actually create more harm than good and may work against the goal of achieving godly self-control. If the coach prioritizes the sport in such a way that is unholy, it could potentially lead the child astray if the parent is not aware of the coach's views and teachings. So it is important for parents to be attuned to how the coach is coaching and what exactly the coach is teaching through his or her coaching.

Third, the commitment to the sport may be too much. While sports can be a good place to learn self-control for the child, if such learning comes at the expense of other commitments, particularly those to the church and the faith, then another more harmful message is taught: that the church and commitments to the faith can be secondary to other matters and pursuits. Some sports, clubs, and seasons simply ask too much of the child and of the family in regard to time, energy, and money. Such situations, as trying as they can be for the child, and sometimes even for the parents, are great for learning and understanding godly self-control.

In our experience in raising our kids and being involved in youth sports, I like to think we have done fairly well overall, while a time or two we have over committed, either financially or with our time, or both. However, in the past year this challenge has become significantly eaiser and let me explain why.

Before the winter basketball season of 2024, we had all of our kids participate in the public parks and recreation programs for all the sports, or they participated in the local public school sports program (we homeschool). However, we learned about another youth sports program that is put on by the local Lutheran WELS community called the Luther Junior Knights.

We did their winter basketball program for one child, followed by their baseball program for another. The experience for both our children and us as parents has been fantastic. Every game begins and ends with prayer. Every practice begins and ends with prayer. Every game and practice involves some teaching or reminder about why the children play, why the adults coach, why we all live... to glorify God.

This emphasis is played out not only in word, but in practice when it comes to the scheduling of practices, games, and tournaments. Sundays are avoided as often as possible, and there is not a tournament every weekend. If games must be played on a Sunday (which happened to us twice all last year), efforts to play later in the day are made, or efforts are made to find a local church to attend either between games or on Saturday evening. One memory stands out in regard to playing on a Sunday. When the basketball state championship tournament was wrapping up on a Sunday, some of the parents in the stands, for an 8 AM game, began singing How Great Thou Art while awaiting the game to start, and they did so in their Sunday best for they were heading to church once the game concluded. When children see the parents and coaches emphasize the need to attend church even in the midst of a tournament, as well as see their peers care about going to church, it shapes the mind of the child and helps to raise them up in the way they should go.

Therefore, for us, youth sports have been a huge blessing in helping us shape the faith of our children to fit the teachings of Scripture. Granted, in large part to the Jr. Knights youth program. But as long as parents are aware of what is being coached and modeled by their child's respective sport program and the parents remain involved, as called by God, to raise their child up in the faith, the sport will be more of a beneficial tool than a hindrance. Obviously, some programs make this easier or harder than others. With that being said, if you are looking for a godly youth sport organization in the La Crosse area, I highly recommend the Jr. Knights.