The Year Baseball Killed the Easter Bunny

Where do we turn for answers to our moral dilemmas in our sports family, where baseball is religion? Well, almost a religion. God is always first in our lives. At least that’s what we try teach and model for our children. Who can I turn to for advice on our current situation? Dr. Laura? Dr. Phil? Nolan Ryan…WWNRD (What Would Nolan Ryan Do)?


Last night, as I worked on our calendar for a family of six active people, I discovered that our son, who will be a senior on his high school baseball team this spring, is scheduled to be out of state with his team on Easter. I understand Easter happens to be during our spring break this year, but still I think there might have been other options. If our lives hadn’t been so busy with things like winter holidays, running our own business, and traveling to California for my grandfather’s funeral, I might have been paying closer attention to our spring calendar earlier. So, now I sit here, stunned at the situation in which I find our family, and I’m asking myself some deep, moral questions: How much do we sacrifice for the team? How can I pass along our family faith values in spite of a coach who schedules a team trip on a religious holiday that is important to us? What is best for my son? What is best for our family? When do I get to have any say in our schedule? What price are we willing to pay to speak up to a coach who already questions our son’s commitment to his program no matter how many fundraisers he helps with or how many family activities he has foregone for the sake of the high school team?

Over the years, we have been able to balance religion, family, and sports pretty well. In my mind, there are some dates that you just don’t touch when it comes to scheduling youth sports. I understand that when the kids go to college, that changes - my older son belongs to his Division 1 university team. But when our kids are still in high school, I don’t expect to lose them to high school sports on one of our most important religious holidays.

So, dear sports parents, what would you do? Is anyone else out there dealing with something similar? Do you have any answers? Where do you draw the line? Am I out in left field on this one? Let me know what you think.

I’m looking forward to having this conversation with you.

Your BioForce Sportsmom,

Laura

BioForceBaseball.com