Sports, Family, and the Spiritual Life

Rachel Bulman shares how her family learned that the habits needed to excel in sports are not very different from those needed to deepen their faith.

I grew up on sports. At a mere 5’0”, I was a shooting guard for the basketball team, and I shot in the 70s for the golf team. (That’s a good number for 18 holes of golf!) My husband played competitive soccer all through his childhood and through high school. Between our six kids, we were sure that someone would pick up a ball that they love. At this point, the 12- and 10-year-olds have fallen in love with soccer. Most Saturdays are spent shuffling kids off to fields and at least one night a week, we are at a practice too.  

They’re starting to age out of their recreational league, and we’ve been praying about putting them into the local competitive league. That comes with its own level of commitment—more practices, more money, a little more travel for the games. I’ve been avoiding making this move for quite some time, wary of its impact on family life and such—but here we are, deciding what to do with their love for the game, their talent, and our time. Perhaps you’re in the same boat and here are some factors that helped us decide what to do next. 

Catholics will figure it out.

Our end-of-season soccer tournament has a guarantee of playing two games on Saturday and a possible championship on Sunday, dependent on the outcome of the two Saturday games. I was sitting with some parents between games, and one of the moms said, “Gosh. I kind of hope we don’t make it to tomorrow. I mean, when will I go to church if the game is right in the middle of the service?”

Her mom laughed and said, “Catholics would figure it out.”

My ears perked up and I said, “Your mom is right! I’m Catholic, and we will figure it out. We have a Sunday obligation to meet, and the Church gives us the Vigil as an option.” We are pretty adamant about not making the Vigil our regular Sunday Mass but in times like these, we are thankful that the Church gives us the ability to do this. When tournaments are played out of town, our first order of business won’t be booking the hotel or looking for restaurants, it will be finding a place to go to Mass. 

It always works out.

As we were deciding what to do for next season, my husband and I were chatting with a friend who has four kids of various ages. That particular day, he was at his son’s recreational game and preparing to go to another son’s competitive game an hour away later that same day. My husband asked him, “Do you worry about the juggling you’ll do with two kids in two different leagues and another two kids that don’t play this sport?”

He responded matter of factly, “It will all work out. It always does. We used to fret over that but after so many years of doing this, it’s always worked out.” His surety built up our own.  

It’s not forever.

Our local competitive league is 10 months long, and the recreational league operates on a spring and fall schedule. Whatever we decide to do, it doesn’t last forever. We can make the commitment to see whatever season through to the end and reassess at the end of that commitment.  

What did we decide?

After attending two competitive team tryouts, we decided to commit to one of those teams. The boys are excited, and my husband (who has coached the last 6 recreational seasons.) is excited to sit on the sidelines with me.   

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The field of sport is a microcosm of the world. #CatholicMom

The field of sport is a microcosm of the world. Practicing, game play, and teamwork lay foundations of discipline, self-denial, creativity, and working with others to achieve one common goal. It’s also an exercise in freedom. When our sons first began playing, there were moves and plays that were difficult. But, through habit, they mastered those skills and now can do them with little to no thought. They are essentially more free to be better soccer players.   

So it goes in the spiritual life. We can become habitual in our pursuit of holiness and authentic freedom. Whatever decisions you may make for your family and how you spend recreational time, may you have the vision to see that all things point back to the one thing—the love of God—His desire to love you and to inspire you to share that love with others. The soccer field just happens to be our field of play for sharing that love with the world.  

Copyright 2023 Rachel Bulman
Images: Canva