Religion In High School Sports Essay

It is traditional before the start of a game for all players to huddle together and recite a prayer, regardless of religious background participation was expected. Parents realized that the children were forced to say a prayer or read from the bible. Families from alternate religious background were trying to raise children a different way. Faith and sports collided; lawsuits were started commenced against schools to ban prayers.

Supplication to God and games has been around for quite a while. All through mankind's history, people, and gatherings from different religious foundations consolidated games and physical action with demonstrations of confidence. Looking back through history there has dependably been some sort of game that includes

It was a tradition, even if the player was not from that religion, they did not want to break the tradition. Parents were outraged that this was happening; it went against their religious background. The lawsuits banned prayers in sports and the schools. It was ok for the student to pray on their own, as long as it was not being forced on someone else. Sports players started praying in the locker room to avoid issues with parents and the school.

“Take a Knee: Applying the First Amendment to Locker Room Players and Religion in College Sports” (Bryant, 2009, para.1). This applies the first revision to locker room request to God and religion in school sport. Student-athlete prayers are protected by the Supreme Court but the lower federal courts held that coaches or school officials cannot initiate or participate in prayers with student athletes.

There are two different ways to look at why prayers should and should not be in school. Players look at prayers as (a) performance prayers, (b) prayer routine (c) thankfulness, (d) God’s will, and (e) tradition. Athletes across different sports utilize prayers to reduce apprehensiveness and discomfort. The needs to ban are (a) difference in religion, (b) parents, (c) Freedom from Religion Freedom, and (4) religion being forced on others. To ban them for these reason are unfair to the athletes who chooses to do