Just last week, the University of Louisville on Thursday confirmed that the NCAA had formally charged staff members in its men’s basketball program, including head coach Rick Pitino, with major violations related to a scandal in which a university employee provided prostitutes who performed sexual acts with players and recruits. The infractions may well rise to criminal charges.
The national headlines are filled with lurid tales of alleged misconduct on the parts of coaches, players and others associated with professional, college, and in some cases high school or even junior high athletic programs.
Into that disturbing realm comes another allegation of misconduct on the part of a coach. This one comes from Newton, Miss., where a national organization has accused a coach and the school system of violating constitutional law in terms of the separation of church and state.
What is Coach Ryan Smith accused of doing? Baptizing one of his football players in front of the rest of the team on Sept. 21. It took place off school grounds, after school, on private property, and no students were compelled to attend. A Facebook video of the event was posted.
The national organization leveling the allegation of misconduct is the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that has made media noise in Mississippi before.
For its part, the Newton Municipal School District appears to be sticking by its coach and issued a statement regarding the student baptism from Superintendent Virginia Young:
“The baptism of a Newton Municipal School District student did not occur on school property and did not occur during school hours or during any organized school activity, thus the district feels this is a private matter of choice for that student. Any additional Newton Municipal School District students that attended the baptism did so as their own voluntary act and decision.”
I could not help but read about this event and the predictable reaction from FFRF and think how strange indeed it is — in an era in which so much of athletics at every level is consumed by drugs, sex, greed, cheating, and “win-at-all-costs” values — that this coach and this school district is being threatened with federal lawsuit over a coach sharing his faith with a student.
The question is one of power. Do coaches have power over athletes? Certainly. But that power is no stronger than the respect that players feel for their coaches. There appears to be no evidence that anything that transpired in this episode involved an abuse of the player-coach or teacher-student relationship.
Strange that we lionize coaches who teach young people to cheat to win, to harm or maim opponents to win, to take performance-enhancing drugs, to risk injury to their bodies chasing wins, but some will demonize this coach for suggesting to young people that there exists more lasting victory in faith, obedience, and service to a higher power.
Pray for Coach Ryan Smith and for the young people he teaches in Newton. But only if you want to. It’s your choice.
