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2008-03-18 issue:

King examines ‘sports-obsessed’ culture

by Jim Bishop

Print Article

David A. (Dave) King knows he may be juggling a hot potato, but he’s prepared. And comments such as, “It’s about time,” when he addresses the topic, assure him that he has a message that needs to be shared.



Dave King. Photo by Jim Bishop.

King, athletic director at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, Va., is concerned that sports has become an obsession in American culture. He believes that this fixation is keeping young people and families from gaining all the valuable benefits of sports participation.

King has been at EMU since 2005. He served 14 years as athletic director and middle school principal at Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite School. 

The father of three young adults, all of whom played high school and college sports, sees several cause-and-effect connections with society’s growing obsession with sports:

• Sport “specialization” at an early age that limits children’s ability to learn to play a variety of sports for fun and excludes, at a young age, those who are not “good enough” to compete.

• Parents at every game and sometimes even practice sessions can create unwanted pressure on both children and coaches. This phenomenon shifts the purpose of the game from fun and learning to winning. 

• Sports so organized that the ability to develop creativity is greatly reduced. Kids do not learn some of the problem-solving and creativity that comes with free play.

• The all-consuming desire of student-athletes, coupled with pressure from parents, to get an athletic scholarship only to find out that sports at that level is a business. For many, the result is unfulfilled dreams and disappointment.

“I see what’s happening in sports as chasing the newest American dream,” King says. “Kids have expectations early on about what they want to accomplish or are being pushed to accomplish, when often those dreams are unrealistic.”

King’s concern was initially sparked several years ago by the book Sports: The All-American Addiction by John R. Gerdy, visiting professor of sports administration at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. King and other Lancaster area educators met with Gerdy to discuss ways to slow the troubling trend.

“It is becoming more difficult to recruit student-athletes to play at Division III schools like EMU,” King says, “because so many have their sights set on receiving scholarships from ‘big-name’ schools. Many parents push their children this direction, which exacerbates the issue.

“I’m fully committed to the value of sports and athletic competition … but I sense that many students and their parents aren’t viewing sports as a way to develop life skills but rather a means to achieve recognition and acclaim. Plus, I fear that certain values may be compromised or sacrificed in the process if their decisions are largely based on what they achieve on the playing field.”

Virginia Mennonite Conference is in the process of licensing King for “specialized ministry” to share his message about the intersection of faith and sports. This ministry has the backing of the EMU administration.

“EMU sees how the intersection of sports and faith can affect not only families and congregations,” says Loren Swartzendruber, EMU president, “but also whether or not student athletes choose Mennonite higher education. When we lose students to Division I schools for athletic purposes, that sometimes means we lose them to the larger church.”

King has spoken to a number of church and civic groups and welcomes more invitations.—Jim Bishop of Eastern Mennonite University

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