Detroit, no more youth sports on Sunday

[tafan2]

https://www.catholicstand.com/no-more-competitive-sports-on-sunday-in-detroit/

I hope our Bishop follows suit. Long overdue.

 

[grotto]

At first I didn’t think this was such a good idea, but then visualizing the effort that goes into participating in a sport outing, much other family time is denied. Recreation and being together, discussing life with Our Lord as the focus, Sunday dinner, etc. Its a good, good back to good idea!

 

[poche]

I think this is a good idea.

 

[Peeps]

At first I didn’t think this was such a good idea, but then visualizing the effort that goes into participating in a sport outing, much other family time is denied. Recreation and being together, discussing life with Our Lord as the focus, Sunday dinner, etc. Its a good, good back to good idea!

We were (and still are!)involved with the sport of figure skating from the time our daughters were 3 and 5 years old through their Senior year of high school, and since then, both girls have continued their involvement with the sport, both as coach and competitor, so we are STILL involved! And we all love it!

We found that the sport gave us plenty of “family time.”

Although most synchronized skating teams ride buses to their competitions, the PARENTS also ride those buses, so there is lots of “togetherness.”

Other disciplines of figure skating (singles, pairs, dance) generally mean that the competitor travels to and from competitions and events on their own–and that means that parents generally travel along, sit at the competition or event, and eat meals with their children.

When I say, “Event,” I’m talking about the figure skating tests, various conferences, ice shows, try-outs for teams and shows, workshops, and camps. PARENTS run these events through local figure skating clubs! So again, lots of “togetherness.”

My younger daughter runs a large ice show at her rink which attracts several thousand audience members and many local businesses who sponsor the show. It’s a huge production, but she has literally a hundred parents and older siblings volunteering. Last year, she suggested in a meeting that after 15 years, maybe it’s time to end the show–and the parents said, “NOOOO!! Our family looks forward to this all year long! It’s our tradition!” And indeed, every year, many families who raised their kids in the show come back to see it again and often volunteer to help out.

We really loved the long drives to and from competitions and events, and a lot of good family talks happened during those drives.

We also love staying in hotels, eating out together, celebrating together after a good competition or event, and just talking about the sport.

As for church, yes, we missed a lot of church when the girls were growing because we were Protestants at the time and many of the competitions or events were held at times that conflicted with our own church(es) and with the meeting times of churches in other cities and towns. On the other hand, there is no “obligation” for Protestants to attend Sunday church, and we were so involved in other ministries in our Protestant churches that we never felt like we were missing out.

There is no reason at all for Catholics to miss Mass! Since becoming Catholic, we have never missed a Mass when we attend one of our daughters’ competitions or events! We’ve never run across a coach who will force a figure skater to miss Mass.

I would highly recommend figure skating if parents are looking for a sport that allows them to be a strong family and continue their church involvement.