Salina Journal
Aside from the "Touchdown Jesus" mural that can be seen from Notre Dame Stadium, the connection between sports and spirituality isn't always obvious.
In fact, when F. Clark Power started his presentation on sportsmanship Thursday night to parents, students and coaches at Sacred Heart Junior/Senior High School, he asked for a show of hands to see how many saw that connection.
No hands went up.
Power, who is a developmental psychologist and associate director of the Center for Ethical Education at Notre Dame, has helped develop a youth sportsmanship program, including a focus on parents.
Power was invited to Salina to work with the Salina Catholic Diocese on improving sportsmanship, and he's having a workshop with coaches today. The diocese is working with Mike Gleason, executive director of the Salina Area Youth Sports Initiative, an arm of the Salina Parks and Recreation Department.
"The fabric of our culture has taken a turn in the past 10 years, putting a priority on winning," said Nick Compagnone, superintendent of the diocese schools, in explaining why the workshops were organized. "The mission of Catholic schools is faith formation, both in academics and on the athletic field.
The program Power helped develop, called "Sports as a Ministry," is designed to help people recognize the spiritual nature of sports, and the meetings Thursday and today are the beginning of that new initiative. Though starting with high schools, the program will work its way down to the elementary level, too, Compagnone said.
In explaining the connection between sports and spirituality, Power noted that in Dante's "Divine Comedy," which explores the various levels of heaven and hell, the angels in the highest levels of heaven are playing and that that pleases God.
"I think they were playing basketball, but Dante didn't specify," he said. Either way, it's apparent that God wants us to play and even compete -- but not to lose sight of the greater goals while doing so.
"Can you express love for one another, even for the people on the other team you're trying to beat?" he asked. "Could you love a ref? Even if the ref is blind?"
Much of the problem -- of parents being abusive to coaches, referees, opposing players and even their own children -- is that they're trying to live through their children and want to see their child's team win.
But surveys asking children why they play sports suggest a different motivation; "to have fun" is their top reason, and winning isn't even in the top seven.
Other surveys show that given the choice between sitting on the bench for a winning team or getting more playing time, children would rather play.
"That doesn't mean that people shouldn't care about winning," Power said. "If you don't care about winning, take a walk or climb a tree."
In fact, he said, "You're disrespecting your opponent if you don't do your best."
He also urged parents not to compare their child with other athletes but rather to encourage them to compete against themselves and to constantly improve -- no matter what their skill level.
"That's also what we do as teachers, help every student get better," he said.
n Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.
©Salina Journal