Religion plays minor role in sports

by Alec McNorton

Religion and sports should remain separate, according to one local football coach.

“There isn’t segregation with regards to religion. Each student has an equal opportunity to be involved,” said Khoury, adding sports gives students confidence regardless of their race or religious views. “Our goal is to provide an opportunity to each player (student) and get the best out of each and every one of them.  My job is to be calm, give my players confidence and providing a comfortable environment for success.”

But from Tim Tebow kneeling at midfield in football to James Reimer paying his respect after a win on the ice, players are still using their prayers as a way to give themselves a winning edge. For some, the idea of the greater being in God guiding the player’s movements has had effects on their playing abilities.

While religion used to divide leagues, communities such as Windsor have shown a change in their belief system by now allowing student from outside the religion to partake in sports that would usually have been closed off from the rest of society.

Josh Gelinas, 18, a football player from W.F Herman Secondary School, disagrees with the segregation in sports.

“If you have catholic schools playing in a public school league then anyone should be allowed to participate,” said Gelinas. “If it’s a private league, I think it should be based on religion because they’re the ones funding it.  But if they want to play in a public league then everyone has the right to play.”

Jake Duval, 20, a former student from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School, talked about the religious-inspired routine before each game.

“We would have to do a prayer in the locker room before each game. Personally, I didn’t see it having an effect on my game, I feel that it’s more about team work,” said Duval. “But for some people I’m sure they looked for that spiritual pull to improve their game. But even our pre-game rituals didn’t affect any of our personal beliefs.”