INTRODUCTION
To the members of the Stake Aaronic Priesthood Committee:
Brethren,
I propose that at our next meeting (7am, Sun 22 March 1998) we invite The
Stake Athletic Director to come and report his stewardship with regard to
the young men and young women basketball program. He has done a fine job
organizing the activity this year, amidst sometimes unhappy circumstances.
Nevertheless, over one hundred youth in our Stake have had a great experience,
to which much of the credit goes to the Stake Athletic Director. I believe
our committee could benefit from hearing from him what he believes his successes
were, and where he believes the program could be improved.
Our committee has the stewardship for the youth of this Stake. The Stake
Activities Committee assists us in this effort by running a sports program
for the youth. I believe our committee was remiss this year in its responsibility
to give guidance to the Stake Activities Committee. We should have told them
what objectives we were trying to meet with the sports program and what
principles we expected to guide the execution of the program. In not giving
guidance, we have--in essence--thrown the ball at the Activities Committee
and absolved ourselves of any responsibility. It is now time to hold ourselves
accountable. If we believe there were problems with the sports program this
year, we are not innocent, myself included.
After the Stake Athletic Director gives his report (about 15 minutes), I
would like to have a discussion about the guidance we should give the Stake
Activities Committee for next year's program. I believe the guidance should
take two forms: objectives and principles. Both of these should be grounded
in doctrine.
Over the next week I'd like you all to think about the objectives and principles
(and their doctrinal underpinnings) we should give to the Activities Committee
as we commission them to organize a sports program for our youth next year.
Specifically, I would like each of you to come prepared to identify a doctrine
that leads to an objective or principle for a youth sports program. By the
end of the meeting, I would like to hand a list of approved objectives and
principles to the High Council Advisor to The Stake Activities Committee.
I firmly believe that if we have a solid doctrinal foundation and our behavior
is guided by the principles of righteousness, the youth will achieve the
spiritual goals we believe are important for them to attain through a sports
program.
CONTEXT
Here is one thought about the context in which the Stake Youth Sport Program
exits. I believe that the Youth Basketball program should be run as a bait
and switch, just like scouts. In scouting, we take the boys on camp outs
because they will come--they like camping. Camping is the bait. Once on the
camp out we do a switch. We try to teach them something about life and the
eternities. On cold camp outs, there is a captive audience standing around
the fire. I never lost the opportunity to teach a life or gospel lesson as
we stood around the fire. Map and compass is a bait and switch. As you have
heard me tell on a number of occasions--at the end of a map and compass course,
if the scout leader does not draw the analogy of the map to the scriptures
and the compass to the Holy Ghost, then the leader has just wasted everyone's
time, and "micro-fied" his calling.
The High Adventure this coming summer is a bait and switch. The beach is
the bait. Once we get them there we will teach them gospel and life
lessons.
The youth basketball program should be run similarly. Basketball is the bait.
The question is, what life and gospel lessons will we teach the girls and
boys? This is what I mean by having a set of doctrinally-based objectives.
Every basketball game (or the car-trip to and from) should be designed to
evoke a spiritual experience for the kids in this stake. If not, then we
are wasting everyone's time. We are not in the "fun" business, we are in
the "soul-saving" business. If we can use "fun" to "save-souls" then we are
on the right track. If, however, at the end of the day we have only provided
fun, we have wasted our time. We should leave the "fun" business to the
professionals (Kings Dominion, etc.).
I view the basketball coaches as playing the same role as the YCLs at girls
camp--or as the Ma's and Pa's at Trek. The Young Women spend quite a bit
of time preparing the YCLs to be able to transform the experiences at camp
into gospel lessons. The youth conference leaders spent quite a bit if time
teaching the Ma's and Pa's how to turn the trek experience into a gospel
lesson. We should spend at much time teaching our coaches how to turn basketball
into a gospel lesson. Remember, they are not coaching basketball, they are
coaching kids. The game is not important. The kids are important. Who wins
or loses has no meaning. Whether these kids have testimonies has meaning.
The rules of life are not suspended during basketball games. Coaches must
understand, behave, and teach the gospel through their coaching.
I believe that the basketball coach should be considered a calling in the
Youth program. They should be charged and held accountable for the spiritual
growth of the kids in the program. They should be trained how to be a spiritual
leader. The Stake needs to prepare training materials and teach the
coaches.
ELIGIBILITY
We normally think about individuals as being eligible, or maybe even teams
as being eligible. I want to expand our notion of eligibility. Because those
kids that are interested in basketball, playing on a team is motivation enough
for them to behave in ways as to become eligible. I believe we have an
opportunity to use that motivation to play basketball to get the young men
and young women to magnify their own callings in their quorums and classes.
I will take as my example the church's use of sacrament meeting attendance
as a criteria for allocating funds. Stakes and Ward want money. Salt Lake
wants salvation for its members. To the extent that Stakes and Wards show
Salt Lake they are working on salvation for its members, Salt Lake dispenses
funds.
So, too, must we dispense eligibility to the extent Wards engage in behaviors
the Stake wants them to pursue.
In addition to individual eligibility (based on a Bishop's interview), I
would like to see quorum and class eligibility. For example, a quorum or
class is only eligible to field a team, if they held a quorum or class presidency
meeting during the previous week. I just hate to see all the effort put into
basketball, while ignoring the weightier matters. I would like to see at
least as much effort into having quorum and class presidency meetings, as
in fielding a basketball team. If we can use basketball as the bait, we can
switch them into the righteousness of magnifying their callings. If a team
is a joint Teacher Quorum/Priests Quorum team, then both quorums must have
help presidency meetings. The team must produce a signed statement by a member
of the Bishopric attesting to the presidency meetings every week before play.
If they don't have it, then the team forfeits, but can go ahead and scrimmage
with the other team.
I also believe there should be ward eligibility. Coaches must be certified
has having gone through Stake sponsored training. Referees must be certified
has having gone through Stake sponsored training. Wards who fail to supply
certified referees, are not eligible to play their teams in competition.
The teams forfeit, and can then scrimmage. I might even go so far as to say
if a ward did not have its own ward Aaronic Priesthood Committee Meeting
during the previous month all of its teams are ineligible.
Bottom line. I believe we need to create a very tight relationship between
the basketball program and the spiritual goals we are trying to get the wards
to pursue.
SEEKING THE ONE
I have a serious concern about what happens at the young mens' weekday activities
throughout this stake. There is an awful lot of basketball being played,
instead of pursuing a Varsity or Explorer program. I believe that a young
men's basketball team should not be eligible to play on Saturday, if they
played basketball for their young men's activity during the previous week.
I would like to have each team present a signed statement by a member of
the Bishopric attesting that neither the Teacher's nor Priest's quorum played
basketball for their weekday activity.
Indeed, I have a fear that the Stake basketball program encourages disregard
for Varsity and Explorer activities. I have heard boys (and leaders) say
their weekday activity is practicing for Saturday's game. We must remove
the temptation to use the Stake Basketball program as an excuse to not execute
the Varsity and Explorer programs. The fact that some wards do use Stake
Basketball to justify not engaging in Varsity and Explorer programs is in
my mind justification enough--in and of itself--not to have a Stake Basketball
program.
And now for my most serious reservation about the Stake Basketball program.
I estimate that less than half of the boys or girls from any ward participate
in the Stake Basketball program. In some wards I would guess it is around
25 percent. Consider the young man who does not like to play basketball.
Week after week his quorum plays basketball on Tuesday night. The only
extracurricular activity his quorum has is playing in the Stake basketball
program. How much apart of his quorum does that young man feel? Zero. We
wonder why so many men drop out of the church between ages 14-18. I can tell
you why some young me do. There is nothing going on in his quorum that engages
his attention. The "basketball boys" seem to do OK. But what about the
"non-basketball boys?" Right now the quorums are doing very little to nothing
to bring these boys into full fellowship in their quorums. And we at the
stake aren't helping much.
We are commanded to seek after the lost sheep. I fear for myself at the judgment
day, because I do not keep this commandment like I should. When we are held
accountable for our Stake stewardships, which will count for more--implementing
a program that gives the already active boys something else to do on Saturday,
or implementing a program the reaches out to the inactives. I would like
to see the Stake Activities committee seek after the lost sheep, rather than
provide the active part of our youth a second opportunity to play basketball
each week. Frankly, this is much, much harder to do. That is why we satisfy
ourselves at having at least done something with the Stake Basketball program.
I am afraid, however, it won't count for much at the judgment bar.
Quorum and Class Presidencies have been commanded to seek after their own
lost sheep. It is clear from DC 15 and DC 16 that we can to nothing more
important for our own salvation than to bring souls unto the Father. The
same is true for Quorum and Class presidents. The most important thing they
can do is get the estranged members of their quorums and classes back into
fellowship with their quorums and classes. I think we have our priorities
mixed up when we at the Stake encourage young men and young women to spend
up to three hours on Saturday (travel time plus game time) playing basketball,
yet encourage them to spend no time at all seeking after the lost sheep.
This is inexcusable.
For these reasons, I strongly favor quorum and class eligibility requirements.
Quorums and Classes must show evidence of having presidency meetings and
efforts to include their non-basketball playing members in non-basketball
activities.
Let me know what you think. Thank you for your patience.