A few practice their beliefs until they become an automatic response in a crisis.
Sports news underscored this on the playing field last month, when the Associated Press reported that Iowa high school wrestler Joel Northrup refused to compete against a girl at a state tournament, citing his Pentecostal religious beliefs against contact sports between men and women.
Commentators from the left to the right lauded and lashed him for his decision, but the bottom line is Northrup embraced his beliefs even in the sports arena. He chose to not compromise his beliefs – not even for the possibility of winning a state title. Incidentally, after his decision and the girl’s subsequent loss to another wrestler, both went to the consolation bracket and both lost.
Confronted with real life match against his beliefs, Northrup proved himself strong enough to make an unfavorable, public decision – even if no one else agreed with him and even if it meant he missed his chance at the state tournament.
In Newark, New Jersey, the Orthodox Jewish parents of seven-year-old gymnast Amalya Knapp said she would be unable to participate at a Saturday competition – the family would be observing the Sabbath. The event organizers rescheduled her routine to Sunday, but her scores only contributed to the team’s ranking – nothing she did counted for individual medals or rankings. Her parents acknowledged the conflict between living out their faith and their daughter’s love of ice skating, soccer and competitive gymnastics. However, their beliefs held greater sway with them than their daughter’s competition, dream of the Olympics or her reported disappointment when they said “No.”
As sporting events and activities continue to proliferate and consume more of the community’s time and attention, most families confronted with the same issues will compromise, saying, “it’s just one game; the kid has practiced all year.” But a few parents and athletes will stop and take a hard look at what holds the greatest import with them. What or whom do they worship? Through the years a few athletes have decided that the passing thrill of participating and possibly winning mattered less than following their beliefs.
In 1965, Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers refused to pitch the opening game of the World Series. Koufax, a Jew, was observing Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and atonement – considered the holiest date of the Jewish calendar.
It was Koufax’s story that Amalya’s parents chose as a means of explaining their decision about the Sabbath to their daughter. Observant Jews abstain from working from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. As Orthodox Jews, the Sabbath would always take precedence over sports.
In 1924, Olympiad Eric Liddell made national and international headlines when he looked at the Sunday scheduling for the Olympics 100-metres race – the race in which he excelled and had planned to run. But as a Christian he would not compete on Sunday, so he withdrew from the race. He spent the intervening months training for the 400 metres. On the day of the 400 metres race, Liddell was slipped a piece of paper with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30: “Those who honor me I will honor.”
Liddell treated the race as a complete sprint. He outran his challengers and broke the existing Olympic record with a time of 47.6 seconds and went on to win other notable races of various lengths. Liddell died in a Japanese internment camp shortly before the close of World War II, yet his legacy as an outstanding athlete who practiced his beliefs has lasted over the decades. In 2008, the Scotsman newspaper poll chose him as the most popular athlete Scotland has ever produced.
Winning in sports is fantastic, but it is not everything. Taking a stand by sitting down and refusing to play because it conflicts with personal beliefs may not receive the immediate applause of the crowd or thrill at winning the trophy, but it underscores that for a few athletes, there really is a far more important race to win.
(Joan Hershberger is a reporter at the News-Times. E-mail her at jhershberger@eldoradonews.com.)