Comments about ‘Sportsmanship making a comeback in church basketball’

the last time i played church ball , the has beens went toe to toe, swore and called names i can't repeat. This is funny!

Unfortunately, the referees are the biggest problem in Church basketball. If ever there was a group that can be cited as evidence that LDS are not Christian, it is the referees!

So this scoring system is worthless without good referees.

Who scores the referees?

The lack of sportsmanship in the LDS Church is the direct result of the Church's doctrine and culture.

Mormons are so proud of their testimonies. They are so proud of their superior spiritual knowledge. They are so proud of the "truth" of their Church and the false-ness of everyone else. Their religion is fundamentally competitive.

A man had sooner turn back the tide of the Missouri river than to stop the unsportsmanlike conduct in Church basketball.

My experience is that by and large the majority of "church" games were very positive and well played. The Anonymous commenter above clearly has an axe to grind. Glad to here the program is seeing a resurgence.

Church basketball is the reason I left the church ten years ago. I have never seen such unChristian behavior in my entire life! And from stake presidents and bishops no less!

It became clear then that most of the people in the Church are there for a social club, not out of genuine conviction. That is why they treat others the way they do, play favorites, cover one another's sins, play politics, preach one thing and live another thing, and condemn others who are not like themselves.

I will never set foot inside another Mormon church as long as I live.

Herb,

Yes the church is made of imperfect people. But to say that you left the church because of what some immature people did on the basketball court really is pointing the finger as how immature and ingnorant you are about the church. Church basketabll is not the Church. For this to mean so much to you that you left the church shows how immature and ignorant your "conviction" was.

Why not choose to never play church ball again, but to immerse yourself in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you can't see the difference between the two--it is a crying shame on you.

To Herb,
I am ashamed to admit that when I was younger and had not conquered the pride in my life, I too did and said things on the church basketball court that I still regret. Since then I have asked many others to please forgive me and I still worry that what I did and said might have harmed someone's testimony. I ask you to forgive me and those like me. I hope you will reconsider your choice and come back. I hope I have repented of my bad behavior and that the Lord has forgiven me. I feel he has done so. I hope you will as well. Thank you

Well said. I also doubt the sincerity of Herb and wonder if he was even a member or invitee that only came out to some of the basketball games. Sounds like someone with an ax to grind.

From playing BB with guys from virtually all religions, I can tell you it is insane to judge them or their religion by how they play and act on the court. People in general can get too competitive in sports sometimes and can otherwise still be really good people in life! Is this not the definition of being human?

I have played church ball for 25 years and very seldom have I seen very poor sportsmanship. Mostly good, clean fun. When I played county rec that's where I saw lots of bad sportsmanship and dirty elbows.

Church Ball? What a joke! Must be a very slow day for news. Sportsmanship? Give me break!
Of all the things that deserve attention in the world concerning the church, this is near the bottom of the list. Right below the selected brand name of TP used at church facilities!
Get a life! The same should be said to all those who are so consumed with church ball that this article is big news!
The rest of the LDS world laughs or scratches their heads at the follies "behind the Zion curtain".

...only in Utah would you have enough members to even staff such a sports program and then have to worry about sportsmanship. Outside of Utah we struggle to maintain people in basic ecclesiastical positions of the church. Perhaps you all need another ward calling where you can burn your extra liesure time... better yet ... go do your home teaching!

I've often wondered if church leaders could weigh the benefits of church basketball against the expense of courts, time, and lost souls, would they consider the entire program worth it. I've concluded that it would be retained, in that it provides us an opportunity to analyze our own behavior, and correct it. Yes, I have seen some unchristian behavior on the court, but I have also seen guys who were able to correct that behavior and forgive others' bad behavior. A previous post is correct. Most games go on without any major problems, but it's the ones that go south that we really remember. Let's try to give the refs and players the benefit of the doubt as we play these games!

Fellow LDS members, let's respond with a little more kindness and empathy to what people have to say, even if it feels we're being attacked. If someone had a bad experience, let's try to understand them. Many of you are making great points, such as the fact that a majority of games are well-played, or that, even when they're not, it's important to separate the church doctrine from the behavior of some of our members. But then we insert a dagger at the end with statements like "has an axe to grind" or "immature and ignorant" or "crying shame on you." I can guarantee this is not going to fellowship people back into the church, which is a portion of what the basketball program is designed to do.

I think this is great. To the first anonymous commenter, I have been to many basketball games from the pros to college to high school to 5 yr old peewee games and everywhere in between and the fans seem to -much of the time- think the refs were not very good. Especially when you are on the losing side. The players are not perfect, why should you think the refs would be? They do their best for the level they are at. The refs are part of the game too. Sometimes they miss the call - so what? Do you sometimes miss a shot? Come on, get a life. Blaming the refs is straining at a mote and missing the beam. Honestly ask yourself, are you one of the hotheads that they made these rules for?

I would love to see this done in my stake. It took one of our players moving away to get me to come back and play, the sportsmanship has gotten better but there still continues to be whining. I don't think you can legitimately complain about the refs, we have a hard enough time getting people to come ref - there's no training program and no qualifications set forth. In any sport you're going to get bad calls - it's how you respond to those calls that matters.
I don't think I could consider poor sportsmanship as a valid excuse for separating myself from the Lord's church - I do let it keep me from going to games or wanting to sub in.

I played and officiated church basketball for years. I also played in the community recreation leagues with many non-LDS players. In both instances, there were hotheads who reduced the fun of playing the game. I don't think this is just an LDS issue though those who profess to follow a religion need to continually reassess their behavior whether in sports or other aspects of life. I applaud the effort to reward sportsmanship and punish those who are poor sports. My only recommendation would be for points to be deducted during the game...not afterwards where I could see a really explosive environment. Rather, and I would like to see this in all basketball including the pros, why not deduct points where a behavior-related technical foul is assessed.... as well as awarding the foul shot? When the outcome of a game is impacted by poor behavior, you will see coaches and, in the base of professional sports, team owners take corrective action. I would love to see this played out on national television where a clear message regarding appropriate behavior could be sent to our youth.

I play church ball in Midvale's 4th ward. I have loved church basketball since before I was able to play. Yes, there are a few idiot's out there. You can find them driving down the freeway or in a basketball game.

Recently in our ward we made an effort to get a few more elders, that weren't to active in the church, out to play. It worked very well and the elders quorum got closer together and a few even showed up to church more often. Basically, mission accomplished. Ward basketball is really to bring people out to know one another, encourage activity, and to help the Lord find a few of his sheep.

Imperfect (other) players, imperfect referees? Sure! But, participants need to recognize that the nature of basketball can bring out the worst in them. They need to make an effort to control their tempers and live their religion on the court, as well as off.

Many of us can point to incidents that back up our view that church ball is dangerous to our spiritual health, drives people away from church participation, etc. Like most movies of its kind, Church Ball portrays a caricature of the subject, but I think most observers would recognize a grain of truth in its message.

I tried to introduce a sportsmanship scoring system into our stake sports program quite a few years ago, but I moved away before seeing it adopted. My idea was to have each team rated by both the other team and the officials, with full accountability to priesthood leaders through the sports director.

The initiative described in the article is a welcome development. I hope it goes church wide. Then I might even enjoy watching a game... Who knows?

I am quite the church ball player and love to play for fun and to compete. I live in Kaysville and I can honestly say that maybe 1 out of every 15 games get out of hand. I have seen 3 convert baptisms come from church sports alone. Church ball gets its bad repuation from a few people being hot heads. Everyone just realize that no one is perfect and that it is all just a game.