tupaview: no to sunday high school practices
By Mike Tupa
May 12, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
This is a topic I’ve tried to deal with during the years and I don’t think I could look myself in the mirror (not a pretty sight anyway) without putting in my opinion.
I recently received information about at least one player at one of our local schools who refused to practice football on Sunday — according to his religious beliefs — was punished by having his playing opportunities on game night cut back.
I cannot express strongly enough in writing what a terrible thing this is. One the one hand coaches preach about moral courage by their players and then they try to make football supersede some players’ religious beliefs on how to best honor God on the Sabbath. I don’t see anything in Exodus that exempts high school sports participation — whether it be practice, so-called team meetings, film sessions, etc. — from forcing kids to betray their spiritual beliefs.
I’m not trying to tell people what they should do on Sundays – but they shouldn’t have the power to interfere on other people’s treatment of that day. Football or basketball or whatever sport is not God. Winning football games is not a Holy Rite — especially when the price asked is wrong.
Whose fault is it? Some OSSAA and school administration officials across the state need to share much of the blame for turning a blind eye to Sunday mandatory, or so-called “voluntary” workouts, at which the coaches reward those who show up and punish those players and parents who live by different kinds of priorities.
The OSSAA needs to adopt a rule immediately requiring all school sports facilities or spaces be completely shut down on Sunday. If a kid wants to work out, there are plenty of open fields or conditioning opportunities of which to take advantage.
If someone doesn’t want to go to church or participate in religious activities on Sunday that’s their business. But the schools shouldn’t have the power to offer tread on Sunday either. Coaches should encourage kids to get involved in church-related and moral-related Sunday activities. Coaches should encourage kids to spend Sundays with their families. Life is too short and all of a sudden youth is gone and all those chances for kids and parents to be together are gone.
Coaches need to take a day off. Probably most credible experts would say it’s never good for someone to be fixated six or seven days a week on activities outside the home — especially when that time is subtracted from family time.
Coaches and players are not machines. They need to have a one or two days off a weekend to step back, relax, take a breath and to focus on things other than the dog-eat-dog mentality.
Once again, I make it clear how individuals choose to spend this precious commodity we possess known as time is up to them. But when their choices impinge on the choices of others to worship freely without punishment or repercussions then something is wrong.
To reiterate, I believe the situation is simple. All school facilities, sports and otherwise, are shut down on Sunday. Just as the school doesn’t want religion to tread on its domain of education so the school should leave Sunday alone — or, in some cases, Friday or Saturday alone, depending on an individual’s mode of worship.
The truth is, most of us here in the Bartlesville area see Sunday as the main church day of the week.
By the way, I’m not only talking just high school sports here. If it’s happening on the college level, I think that’s wrong. Players may or may not choose to use Sunday in a religious or family way. But the school should never be used as an excuse or a distraction to do so.
What do I think would happen if this concept were enforced? I think a lot of kids and coaches would be able to restack their priorities and have even more energy, focus and efficient workouts during the rest of the week. I think a tremendous amount of stress would be taken off the families of coaches and players.
Some might complain about the “cheaters,” the schools that run secret practices.
At some point teenagers have to be taught that playing sports is not the most important thing in life — that spending time with family and friends and developing other talents and priorities are what constitute a well-balanced life.
Remember, high school sports is not about developing great talent — that’s a by-product. High school sports should be about developing character, moral perspective, a love of family, freedom and country, self-discipline, courage to do the right thing no matter how hard it might be. A kid is an athlete only part of the time. The rest of the time he or she is a son or daughter, a sibling, a grandson or granddaughter, student, a leader among their peers and a future good citizen and positive contributors and the best people possible to pursue our cultural goals of equal justice, equal opportunity, respect for the beliefs of others and their rights to display and live those beliefs in a peaceful manner without sanction.