vacations

Christianity

The myth of the elite young athlete

I recently received an email from my brother-in-law that contained several video links.

“Tell me what you think.” My brother-in-law wrote.

I clicked and opened each link and watched my 8-year-old nephew goaltending a lacrosse goal. The video contained the coach’s commentary, superimposed video drawings, and slow motion point-by-point breakdown of his form.

“Wow! When I played that type of analysis and video work was only on ESPN,” I wrote back. I was shocked at the level of sophistication of the coaching analysis.

In the last 10-15 years, there has been an explosion in youth sports training, travel teams, artificial turf fields, video production, websites, private coaches, and “elite” sports teams. According to the news channel CNBC, youth sport travel is a $7 billion dollar industry. With the recent interest in forming “elite” youth athletes, parents are left paying for additional training and sacrificing family time to “elite” sports.

Growing up in the 1980’s and 1990’s, we kids played football, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, street hockey, and basketball. Some of us were on recreation teams and others were not. We tried all sorts of sports and leagues. We played because it was fun.

Now, as a father of three children, I cannot believe how much youth sports culture has changed. What was once a time of fun, team building, and exercise is now a billion dollar industry. Families spend the whole weekend carting around their kids to sport games or leagues. They spend 2-4 nights a week at practices. Their kid’s sports are their life.

It is not supposed to be this way.

christians

Finding Faith at "Vacation Churches"

While on vacation, I recently preached at a little lakeside church on Lake George, but this church’s congregation is not made up by locals. The congregation is largely vacationers or summer residents looking for spiritual direction or a community of faith to connect with while gone from home. Lakeside Chapel, in Cleverdale, NY has been serving the community of Lake George for decades. Even though no congregation meets during most of September through June, the chapel holds weddings, baptisms, and funerals.

The chapel depends on local and regional ministers to provide preaching. I am always amazed at the attendance at this little chapel even though most of the congregation are “visitors” or seasonal residents. It was my third year preaching and leading worship there and every time I have been there, the chapel is near capacity. Lakeside Chapel only holds about 85 people, max. Most churches in this country are close to under 85 people — and even those churches have a difficult time filling the pews with their locals!

The New York Times recently wrote an article on the growing number of people who either attend a house of worship on vacation or just attend church while on vacation. Why go to church on vacation? Can’t we have a break? The NYT provides an insight to why there is a growing movement of “vacation churches”:

The myth of the elite young athlete

Finding Faith at "Vacation Churches"

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