An editorial today by Bud Kennedy in the Star-Telegram shows the story about Texas high school basketball team Covenant Lady Knights and their 100-0 romp over Dallas Academy has a tie to Christian music. (If a hot story has a tie to Christian music, I’ll find it so I can write about it.)
Looks like all-state guard Savannah Smith is the daughter of Christian music producer and songwriter Chris Christian. (Smith had 48 points and 13 steals in the game, including four three-point field goals.)
But back to basketball. I’ve been watching the story about the Covenant Lady Knights and Dallas Academy with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, there is no mercy rule in that women’s basketball league, so the teams should play until the end of the game. On the other hand, it’s really not very Christ-like to purposely stomp all over your opponent, if that’s what they did.
The thing is, I don’t believe Coach Micah Grimes had his girls purposely stomp all over the opponent. I think it was just a lopsided game and, without a mercy rule to pull the plug, they had to keep playing. What else could they do?
In an email that Grimes sent to the Dallas Morning News and is posted on several sports websites, he says:
“Contrary to the articles, there were only a total of four 3 point baskets made; three is the first quarter, and only 1 in the 3rd quarter. I continued to sub in bench players, play zone defense, and run the clock for the rest of the game. We played fair and honorably within the rules and in the presence of the parents, coaches, and athletic directors for both Covenant School and Dallas Academy.
“I do no wish to forfeit the game. What kind of example does it set for our children? Do we really want to punish Covenant School girls? Does forfeiting really help Dallas Academy girls? We experienced a blowout almost 4 years ago and it was painful, but it made us who we are today. I believe in the lessons that sports teach us. Competition builds character, and teaches us to value selflessness, hard work, and perseverance. As a coach, I have instilled in my girls these values. So if I loose my job over these statements, I will walk away with my integrity.”
On the Covenant School’s website, they list the objectives of their athletic program:
- To enable Covenant student/athletes, coaches, and spectators to glorify God and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
- To provide the highest quality athletic experiences.
- To develop athletic gifts and skills.
- To become physically fit.
- To encourage and deepen relationships and friendships.
- To foster discernment and wisdom in the use of one’s God-given talents.
- To learn how to commit to a team above one’s self and to work together towards common goals and objectives.
- To build Christ-like character traits and develop servant leadership skills through discipline, and physical and mental training.
- To develop skills and abilities such as goal setting, a strong work ethic, and an understanding of how to prepare and train for performances and competition.
- To provide a forum for the entire school community to gather together to share in the excitement of the contest and to support the student/athletes in both victory and defeat.
Sure, Covenant looks bad with such a blow out, but what team hasn’t been on either the winning or losing end of a romp like that at some point? Especially when you’re talking about schools with enrollment in the dozens. And how do you help students balance using their God-given talents and building a strong work eith with using discernment and being a good sport? If they forfeit, then they’ve, in a sense, violated their own objective in teaching athletes to play their hardest, train for competition, and perform to the best of their abilities.
But what do you think? Should the Covenant school apologize and forfeit the game? Or is Coach Grimes right, that winning – and losing – builds character? And does it matter that we’re talking about Christian schools?
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