Positive organizations for students

Schools have also adopted the idea of hiring outside organizations to help bring in another element of religion to help educate athletes on how to apply religion within their sport.  Two major examples of these outside entities  are FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and Athletes in Action.  These Christian groups "promote spiritual growth, recruit new members and promote religious beliefs and organizations, and promote fundamentalist beliefs and evangelical orientations", (Coakley,2009). 

These groups all have mission statements depicting their views on religion through sport.  FCA was started in 1954 and their mission statement is, " to present to athletes and coaches and all whom they influence the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church".  FCA also holds their values, Integrity, Serving, Teamwork, and Excellence as very important tools in serving the Lord through sport.

The impact that these programs have had are very great on college athletes across the nation. FCA's numbers have been very positive in the last year from Jan. 1, 2009 - Dec 31, 2009:
Total Reached in Eight Months: 1,834,875Faith Commitments: 35,159One Way 2 Play - Drug Free! Decisions: 34,712TeamFCA Commitments: 3,694
(FCA, 2010)
With numbers like these, it has made a positive impact on college campuses. The spread of religion in sport will continue to increase with the dedication and help of others outside of the university walls. The hope is to help college athletes, not only better themselves but to better the students around them, in hopes of creating a more positive, and unified team.

FCA Official Presentation Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnq-jFXmVzY

The NCCAA ( National Christian College Athletic Association) was incorporated to provide a Christian-based organization that functions uniquely as a national and international agency for the promotion of outreach and ministry, and for the maintenance, enhancement, and promotion of intercollegiate athletic competition in a Christian perspective (NCCAA, 2010).  The NCCAA focuses on not only assisting the student-athletes in sports but also in life in general through their "game plan" consisting of dedicated and caring leadership, national competition, international outreach and ministry with athletic teams, discipleship programs and materials for student-athletes and coaches, and conferences on current key issues. The link below shows NCCAA's statement of belief: http://www.thenccaa.org/statement.html



Coakley, J.  (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
     The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About athletes in action.  (2009). Retrieved from
     http://www.athletesinaction.org/about/
About the nccaa.  (2010). Retrieved from
     http://www.thenccaa.org/about.html#Mission%20Statement
FCA. (2010). Annual impact report. Retrieved from
      http://www.fca.org/AboutFCA/AnnualImpactReport.lsp

Whats legal whats not

There are many situations between religion and sports that are not clearly defined as legal or illegal. In 1962 the Supreme Court banned organized prayers in public schools, which meant, prayers may not be legal when they are said publicly and collectively at sport events sponsored by state organizations, such as public schools (Coakley, 539). Although in 1992 this still upset two families and they decided to bring this decision back to the Supreme Court, stating that it was in violation of the first amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." In turn this allowed public prayers in schools as long as it wasn't to convert anyone, nonsectarian and general in content. Although, this decision was not upheld for sporting events. An appellate judge ruled that sport events were not serious enough to require the solemnity of public prayer, stating prayers are inappropriate" (Coakley, 539).

This decision of the Supreme Court was not an effort to separate religion and sport but to make sure that it was not forced on to anyone who didn't not want apart of it. Which is why organizations and schools have been founded on religious beliefs for kids, who wish to further their education on the bases of that religion.

Although if you looked at a lot of individual athletes before a game or big event, they prepare them selves with prayer. Most players will take a knee close their eyes and say a short prayer, some may cross themselves in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but, none of these things are forced on to anyone else, which is within the guidelines set by the Supreme Court.

Mormon student-athletes that attend universities primarily BYU (Brigham Young University) have to fulfill a mission trip. What that means is that students for two years generally go to another country and volunteer their time and services; such as building churches, libraries, homes, providing health care and education, while also preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (N, 2009). These students who are called to these missions who are athletes are not penalized any years of eligibility, in some cases resulting in 20 plus year old freshman/student athletes. This is just an example of students being able to do works for their religion and colleges and universities not penalizing them for fulfilling religious duties (Bruner, 2010).

Case: New Mexico State Sued by Three Former Players
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/60238/college_athletes_persecuted_for_religious.html





Bruner, R. (2010). What is a lds mission?. Retrieved from
        http://lds.about.com/od/programs3foldmission/p/lds_mission.htm
N, A. (2009, February 20). When sports and religion collide. Retrieved from
       http://sportsjabber.net/2009/02/20/when-sports-and-religion-collide/
Coackley, J. (2009) Sports in society. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Religious athlete

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS8qqNnR3aM (Tim Tebow answering a question about saving "himself," for marriage)

In today's era it is not uncommon to see players show their religion on the field, before, during, or prior to the event. A sport where you see religion most commonly "center staged," is in football, both at the college and professional level. Players such as Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford really took the next step in showing their religion on the field. Tebow, who is now back up quarter back for the Denver Broncos really changed how religion was seen in college sports. He wore eye black under his eyes and wrote verses from the Bible that really motivated him. Sam Bradford, now the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, wore his verses on his tape like most athletes do.

You see a lot of uses too in football of guys crossing the goal line for a touchdown and instantly either kneeling to the ground and saying a small prayer and signing themselves with the cross, or pointing straight up to the heavens as a token of appreciation of letting them get that score. Across the NFL as well players are not afraid to show their religion, players like Troy Polamalu, Deion Sanders, Reggie White. Religion has become a part of celebration, a way to glorify God fro the gifts these people were given.

Christianity isn't the only type or religion practiced in sport today. Recently ESPN did a story on the Abdullah brothers, two brothers who play safety in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, and Minnesota Vikings. Hamza and Husain practice Islam and this past preseason Ramadan (the holiest month in the Islamic calendar) fell during mini camp. Ramadan is the month where the Koran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.(Farrar, 2010) During this time Muslims throughout the world fast. "From sunup to sundown, we abstain from food, water, anger, fighting, and were also supposed to maximize our good deeds," (Farrar, 2010). During mini camp, where football camps run all day the brothers were not able to eat or drink anything during the day and during practice. The taxing that hits takes on a person body is incredible and dangerous, but to be true to their religion the Abdullah brothers practiced Ramadan as if it were just another month.

Michael Irvin: 2007 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/halloffame07/news/story?id=2961687


These athletes face many challenges and ridicule.  Shirl Hoffman describes Christianity as being based on an ethic that emphasizes the importance of means over ends, process over product, quality over quantity, and caring for others over caring for self.  But power and performance sports emphasize winning, final scores, season records, personal performance statistics, and self display (Coakley, 2009).  Where do athletes draw the line?  Every athlete wants to be the best that they can be and to win the game they participate in.  Athletes with serious religious beliefs do more than try to make just themselves better but to improve the entire team even the team they are competing against.  This is a good quality to possess as a teammate, but does this take away from the ultimate peak a religious athlete can reach?  These are challenges religious athletes face on a day to day basis.  Another challenge is ridicule, as shown previously in the Tim Tebow clip.  Soft spoken, spiritual players may be categorized as too soft or mean enough to play at high levels.  This is proven wrong by Troy Polomalu.  Year in and year out, the soft spoken safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the top players in the NFL.  He does so while staying true to his spiritual beliefs and not playing dirty and taking cheap shots.  It is proven that athletes can both be religious and successful.



Coakley, J.  (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
     The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Farrar, D. (2010, August 21). Abdullah brothers balance faith, football, and fasting. Retrieved from
          http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/A-brothers-balance-faith-football-and-f?urn=nfl-264192

Sports as religion do fans take it to far

A lot of sport fans really take a being a fan to a whole new level. We can't begin to tell you how many times we have walked into someones home and see team paraphernalia everywhere. People today live or die for the teams. Living in "Steeler Country," has shown me how much this is really true. Ryan and myself have seen many tattoos that say "sixburgh," or tattoos for every Super Bowl won. Fans today make sport their religion, they like to wear a jersey on a certain day, or a color for a certain event. Fans and athletes really live or die for their team/sport.

Coakley explains several similarities and differences between religion and sports.
Similarities

• Sports and Religion both have places for gatherings. ex: churches and stadiums
• Perfection in body, mind, and spirit
• Hierarchical systems of authority and structured organizations
• Rituals before, during, and after major events
• Heroes and Legends about heroic accomplishments
• Give meaning to people's lives

Differences

• Religious beliefs, meanings, rituals, and events are mystical and sacred.  Sports are fundamentally clear-cut and secular
• Religion pertains to the pursuit of eternal life.  Sport seeks victory through physical performance.
• Religion involves faith in one's beliefs.  Sport involves competition to establish superiority.
• Religion emphasizes humility and love.  Sport emphasizes personal achievement and conquest.
• Religion acknowledges the sacred and supernatural.  Sport highlight a collective commitment to here and now.(Coakley, 2009)

We believe in some cases athletes absolutely take their actions too far, but we do believe that sport and religion can and should co-exist.  Fans and athletes should be dedicated to their sports team as well as their personal spiritual beliefs, but they should not take sports as a life or death situation and become hostile and violent.  We believe college athletes such as Tim Tebow and Ryan's ex-quarterback at Edinboro University, Trevor Harris, set great examples as student-athletes and apostles of Jesus Christ.  Athletes of all religions should be accepted and not ridiculed nor criticized and should be giving the opportunity to put their spiritual duties before sports activities.