All-Star Religion In The Gym

[IzzyFierce]

Every gym that I've been to always prays, but usually its an athlete thing, not the coaches. And we dont pray to God exactly, its more like praying to the cheer gods....

 

[kristenthegreat]

..I was into the NeoPaganism thing for a while. And it most certainly would NOT have gone both ways. If I so much a breathed a word of that, I'd get non-stop harassment for AGES..

ETA: My Dad's Italian Catholic, my Mum's Christian'ish' but mostly spiritual. I took religions of the globe in college. It's been an interesting journey, in that regard lol

 

[stuntjumptumble]

before every competition my team prays, im jewish & i dont know it, but i dont really care, it helps get us pumped up i guess lol

 

[PghxCheer2]

I think more teams could use a few prayers before they perform. Clearly some of these coaches think their teams are being directly assisted by a higher power when they throw some of these skills.

And plain and simple: these parents are overreacting. Concentrate less on a 30 second prayer and more on the other 1 hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds of your practice. I know that at my old high school this year there was a big issue with a jewish holiday clashing with homecoming. They completely changed homecoming at the last minute and put it on a collision course with their senior night at the football game. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there are MAYBE 5 Jewish kids in the entire high school, which is made up of 2000 kids. Bottomline: To cater to the 3 Jewish families in the school, they pissed off the other 1, 997 that would rather not have everything crammed into one night. It was completely ridiculous that they were catering to specific kids. I say take a vote on the team and if it's pissing off a majority of the parents then you take it out. If a majority like it or are indifferent about it, tell the parents to find a new gym.

 

[Level5Mom]

This whole thread just makes me sick to my stomach. That's all.

 

[Mamarazzi]

This whole thread just makes me sick to my stomach. That's all.

Why sick?

 

[Level5Mom]

Why sick?

I'm a Christian and it just disappoints me. I just won't open the thread anymore. Carry on....

 

[PghxCheer2]

I'm a Christian and it just disappoints me. I just won't open the thread anymore. Carry on....

Totally OT, but you need a new picture in your sig now that Hailey's on orange!!!!

 

[Mclovin]

I believe that T&S is an openly Christian gym and promotes itself that way. That's totally cool for them and anyone walking into that gym would know that. I don't think anyone would have a problem with prayer at practice in this circumstance, and they seem to build very happy, healthy and fierce athletes in their environment. I think @Mclovin actually moved her family to OK to be a part of the gym!

Twist & Shout is most definitely an openly christian organization. You can't walk into our building and not know that. There are scriptures painted on the walls. The fact that it is a christian owned and operated gym was 75% of the reason we chose to move to OK over other larger gyms we had looked into. Looking back, I am 1000% sure we chose the right gym for our family.

 

[Mclovin]

While I understand there are different religions, I love the idea of team prayers. God is an important part of everything we do. It's not a public school, it's a private club. I think it can unite a team and I am 100% for it. @Mclovin does twist and shout pray in practice or before competitions? They are the most religious gym I can think of off the top of my head. I love them!

One last thing to say, you can pray to whatever God you want during a prayer. If you don't believe in God, you can just listen. It's not like hearing a prayer is going to force you to believe in a religion.

Yes, every squad at T&S prays either before practice begins or at the end of every practice. We pray before we take the floor with every squad. Many times, stunt groups will pray together before they start stunting or before they take the floor at a comp. And let me make this very clear...we pray to God (Jehovah) and Jesus.

If anyone was uncomfortable with this, there are many other gyms in our area that don't pray or hold our same values and beliefs that would be more than happy to train them.

 

[Mclovin]

PS- despite what any of you think, at a competition last year I heard the cutest 'cheer' a team said together right before they went on stage. I think it may have been Twist and Shout, but don't quote me on that. I absolutely love it.

"Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John; Bless this floor we're cheering on. And if we do our very best, we know that God will do the rest. Amen".

I have never heard this one before, but it's cute. My youth 3 (they are called Youth Faith) team this year has a breakdown that says "Gotta have faith to win first place, we're gonna rock this place. Faith without works is dead. James 2:20" They say it after we pray at the end of practice each night and will say it before we take the floor at each comp.

 

[Mamarazzi]

I have my personal religious/spiritual beliefs, and we (as a family, and/or small group) say a prayer before warm-ups. God, to us, is present in everything that we do, and we make it a point to thank Him for getting us to comp safely, allowing us to have talent, allowing us the opportunity to shine every day, and we ask that He watches over cp and her team on the floor and let Him know that we accept His chosen outcome for the day.
I also respect the fact that others don't choose to believe the way we do and would never, ever look down upon anyone for their personal beliefs. But that's why we choose to pray as a small group or family, rather than making everyone on the team do it. I completely agree with keeping the practice of prayer out of team activities.

 

[ztaprincess]

I minored in Religious Studies and have also seen first hand how a simply prayer can help a person so I completely understand why a team or a gym would pray before/after a competition or practice. I love that Twist and Shout is so open about it and includes it in so much of their gym which I think sets them apart from other gyms. The fact that you can't sit through a practice at TS and not know means you are prepared for what some of the practices in the gym may be. Other gyms that do not let the parents know is completely different.

If the gym/teach finished practice an allowed everyone to leave but let the athletes know that if they wishes to stay and say a little prayer that they could it would probably be easier for the athletes that didn't wish to participate to go on home. Another way to make them feel more comfortable is to just form a circle and have a moment of silence where each person may say their own prayers in their head (you could even still have a gym or group prayer). This way it is a silent prayer and those who may be of a different faith can say their own.

 

[PghxCheer2]

Do you think the parents would be pissed if they stunted to this?

 

[Mclovin]

Do you think the parents would be pissed if they stunted to this?

LOL! I didn't even know this existed! It's just as corny as the original, but at least it has a message!!

but on the same note, many of our squads this year have christian music in their mixes.