In many areas there are wards and stake that still have the young men play basketball as a ward team. This can be a positive experience for some of the boys. However, it is too easy to have this become negative for others. It is important to realize that church ball is mainly to build friendships and to be a positive experience. Here are a few tips to make it a more positive experience.
1) Respect everyone’s choice whether they want to play or not. It is not fair to put undue pressure on boys that are not comfortable playing sports. You should also make sure that they boys get equal playing time, regardless of ability. Everyone should feel included and wanted.
2) Make sure that the comments that you make are encouraging and uplifting. Negative comments can affect a boy’s desire to come to church. Those comments can also affect families and their desire to remain active.
3) If your stake plans the games, so that you only play in a tournament one day out of the year, do not allow the practices to take the place of the activities you should be having. You can plan the practices before or after activities, but you still need to be working on Scouting and Duty to God goals.
4) Be sure that you emphasize good sportsmanship between spectators as well as the players. Fights have been known to happen. Fights truly detract from the spirit. If you have problems with fighting, you may want to consider canceling the games completely.
5) Playing basketball is a great way to reach out to people who are less active. It is important that an interest continues after you are finished playing ball. You do not want people to feel as though they were used simply to win the games.
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