Sunday has long been known as a day of holy obligation for practicing Christians and Catholics alike. Over time, this day has been taken over by events such as world series games or Super Bowl Sunday. This professional sports mindset has started to trickle down to the college level as many sports teams practice or travel for games on Sundays. Although this is an increasing trend, Universities should become more mindful of their athletes’ beliefs and place more emphasis on acceptance and understanding.
Growing up, attending church on Sunday mornings was a weekly occurrence. One thing that I’ve noticed since being here, especially at a technical school, religion seem to be a choice. It’s no surprise that academics take up a lot of time which can sometimes affect the ability to attend mass, but it is much more challenging to schedule when a sport holds required practices and events on Sundays.
It’s a taboo thing to have to figure out if religion is a ‘priority’ or not, indicating that faith is a choice you have to make. This has been very apparent being a member of the varsity crew team. During our main season in the spring, we have practice every Saturday and Sunday until races begin, which take place throughout the course of the weekend. races begin, which take place throughout the course of the weekend. Team member and practicing Catholic Laura Boccio went to a Catholic high school and considered this to be a very strange change to her lifestyle. “I had a Catholic upbringing in all academics and it was never something I had to think about until I came to college,” she said.
It is manageable to work around our workout schedule but in April, for Catholics, the Lenten season is a time of spiritual reflection. Previously, there haven’t been any conflicts, but because it occurs so late this year, the rowing association scheduled a race for the morning of Easter Sunday. This forces me to either not participate in the race, or spend my entire day traveling home and back to school for classes the next day.
It is interesting that there is a race scheduled on Easter, as a large proportion of our country identify as Christians. For my family, Easter is considered the holiest day of the year. However, the purpose of holidays such as Christmas and Easter have been so commercialized that they’ve lost their religious meaning and importance. this is likely why sports events are so easily scheduled to conflict.
It is true that people on a sports team sign themselves up for these events when they try out for the team. They know what they’re getting themselves into, and if it’s not clear, then it can be argued that it’s up to them to advocate for themselves. It’s hard to keep track of everyone’s commitments and beliefs, and it’s not the coaches or programs job to plan around each individuals schedule. However, a student shouldn’t have to always advocate for themselves. It’s often an unspoken rule to not do so for fear of punishment.
Kayla Legatt, a sophomore on the team, is a practicing member of the Jewish community. Coming from a very Jewish neighborhood, her town always had Jewish holidays off to give people time to observe. Now, she has to observe on her own time and attend classes even on holidays. She has also had conflicts with her religion and rowing. On Yom Kippur, she cannot eat for the entire day, but, she still went to practice at night because she knew it would not bode well with her spot on the team. “WPI athletics hasn’t been accommodating at all, and I’ve had to advocate for myself. I’m worried if I were to miss a practice that I would be penalized,” she said.
Students should not have to make a choice between religion and athletics. Universities tend to prioritize athletics even though academics, career, and religion should come first. This is especially true at a division three school where athletics will not lead to a professional position. In today’s world, it’s important to continue learning from the past and to not suppress any one belief. We need to allow students to be free to express themselves without any consequences.
