Trinity Lutheran School’s fourth- and fifth-grade Eagles played the St. Patrick Catholic School Giants in a CYO basketball game at Trinity in January. The sports organization is no longer holding its games on Sundays. [COURTESY PHOTO]
By Dean Cousino
Monroe News staff reporter
Posted Sep 7, 2019 at 2:00 PM
Schedules have been adjusted for football, soccer and volleyball games to go along with the policy recommended by Archbishop of Detroit Allen H. Vigneron earlier this year.
Monroe County Catholic Youth Organization has moved its games away from Sundays to comply with a new policy from the Archdiocese of Detroit to cease youth sporting activities on Sundays.
Schedules have been adjusted for football, soccer and volleyball games to go along with the policy recommended by Archbishop of Detroit Allen H. Vigneron earlier this year.
In a pastoral note to Catholic parishes throughout the archdiocese, Vigneron urged parishes to cease sporting activities on Sundays in a renewed effort to reclaim Sunday as one for worship, rest and family time.
Brian Boberg, director of CYO, said games were moved to Saturdays or earlier in the week to meet the new standard set by the archbishop.
“We’re adjusting and it’s going to be better in the long run,” Boberg said. “Nothing is taking place on Sundays, which will be kind of nice. A lot of families are pretty happy about it.”
The CYO teams are playing more during the week and on Saturdays.
“It’s probably good for families,” he said. “Instead of sitting around fields and gyms on Sunday, they can relax and do other things.”
There are only two schools that have football teams — St. Charles in Newport and Monroe Catholic Elementary Schools (MCES). St. Charles began its season last week as a member of the Detroit Catholic League, where it has played for several years. The league includes grade school teams from Detroit, Novi, Pontiac, Riverview and Warren. The teams play on Saturday mornings or afternoons, Boberg said.
MCES plays public grade schools in the Huron League such as Airport, Flat Rock, Huron, Jefferson and Milan. Their games are on weeknights. It’s the first year of playing those schools, he said.
Soccer and volleyball teams will kick off their seasons today against other teams in the county, he said.
There are four levels of volleyball competitions offered for grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. Local volleyball teams playing include St. Charles; St. Patrick’s, Carleton; MCES; St. Michael’s, Monroe; St. Mary’s, Monroe, and Trinity Lutheran, Monroe. Both St. Michael’s and St. Mary’s have only a grade 8 team, Boberg said.
St. Joseph’s, Erie, did not have enough girls for a full volleyball team so its players were combined with Trinity, he said.
Soccer teams playing in a county CYO league for grades 5-8 include squads from Holy Ghost Lutheran, Monroe; Trinity; St. Joseph’s; MCES and St. Joseph’s, Trenton.
St. Joseph’s, Erie, also has a coed cross country team that is competing with the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The new policy also will apply to winter and spring sports, Boberg said.
The archbishop’s letter titled “The Day of the Lord” introduces the policy alongside a discussion of the scriptural and traditional foundation for Catholics honoring Sunday as a holy day. Dating to the early years of the church, Vigneron said, Catholics set aside Sunday for rest and worship in recognition of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost Sunday and the first ” rest” of God after His work of creation.
“In our time, Sunday has slowly lost its pride of place,” Vigneron said in the letter. “In the Archdiocese of Detroit, we are committed to setting aside this day as much as possible for Godcentered pursuits” such as Mass, personal prayer and Bible studies as well as dedicated family time and activities centered on sharing faith with others.
Officials with the leagues will ensure teams enjoy a full line-up of practices, scrimmages and games, taking advantage of a Monday through Saturday schedule.
The policy will help reduce distractions for families in their “pursuit of reclaiming Sunday as the Lord’s Day,” Vigneron said.
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