Basketball invitation led hesitant youth to Church
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It was through basketball that Elder Adney Y. Komatsu of the Seventy got his introduction to the Church as a non-member youth living in Hawaii.
In the winter of 1939-40, missionaries had put together a team of investigators to participate in stake play. "Some friends of mine had gotten together and played on that team," recalled Elder Komatsu. "They recommended me because I was a little taller than the rest of them. I didn't know anything about basketball, but the missionaries in charge said they would teach me how to play. After several practices, I began to get an understanding of what the game was supposed to be."The missionaries also encouraged me to attend MIA. "I was hesitant to attend a Christian church at first, because of my Buddhist background," Elder Komatsu remembered. "But basketball practice always started after MIA. One night I went early and could see into the classroom where my friends were being taught. The teacher was drawing circles on the chalkboard representing a plate, cup, etc. I thought to myself, `That's not religion, that's table manners.'
"All of us in the group were Japanese Americans and used chopsticks at home when eating. The class was on how to set a table and etiquette. I began going to MIA and enjoyed what they were teaching, then would go to basketball practice afterward. That was the beginning of my association with the Church."
Some time later, Elder Komatsu went to his first Sunday meetings and subsequently joined the Church at age 17. Through the remainder of his growing-up years and into adulthood, he would regularly participate in Church basketball and in local city leagues. Elder Komatsu played as a member of commercial teams that played against military service teams and the University of Hawaii in the mid-1940s.
The sport has been an enjoyable part of his life since, and he still claims to be a "basketball fan, all the way!"
"I've always appreciated that beginning," he concluded, "that I got involved in the gospel through positive Church activities."
