Church sports can bless lives
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"Church ball" has become something of a punch line for many over the past few years. Anyone claiming Church membership in the United States can likely share a colorful, comical, shameful or — in many cases — apocryphal ward ball story.
Yet Roger Pusey remains a believer. A stake's athletic program, he says, can be an effective tool in promoting brotherhood and sisterhood, Church values, fitness, healthy competition and family fun.
"I believe in having a decent program," said Brother Pusey of the Jordan 7th Ward, Salt Lake Jordan Stake.
He can comment on Church athletics with a grizzled voice. Many of the once young LDS athletes who were playing ball when Brother Pusey first donned a black-and-white-striped referee's jersey are now years removed from their last bounce pass or base hit. The 67-year-old has spent more than three decades officiating Church basketball and softball contests.
Brother Pusey remembers having a great time playing Church ball as a boy and as an adult. Moving to full-time officiating seemed a natural shift. "I enjoyed playing and wanted to give back something."
So, looking to create a well-organized, all-but-incident-free stake athletic program? Start with a well-organized officials program, says Brother Pusey, who serves as his stake's officials coordinator. Identify responsible men or women from the stake who have refereed or umpired in school or community leagues. Church units that are light on veteran officials can develop their own crop.
"If (members) have played ball, they ought to be able to officiate," he said.
Brother Pusey frequently conducts pre-season clinics to teach prospective officials the nuances of the rules, floor positioning and tips on keeping games under control. Preparing to officiate a Church sporting event "is no different than preparing for a Sunday School lesson," he said. Put in the needed work, study the rule book and perform officiating duties with the correct spirit.
Preparation should start long before game day. A common Church ball malady is officials being asked to work a game hours (or minutes) before tip-off or the first pitch. Brother Pusey schedules officials on the Sunday prior to his stake's Thursday games. He makes sure two officials are assigned to each game.
"They've all shown up this season," Brother Pusey said.
Stake athletic directors can help their officials by clearly communicating established rules — such as starting games on time with the number of players required from each team to compete.
Brother Pusey says he's witnessed the rewards of a well-organized sports program in his stake. Games have started on time. Athletes have been generally well-behaved. ("We've had very few technical fouls.") And a few participants have likely even dropped a few pounds.
"You've got to have some place to get out and run around," he said.
