What's wrong with boys playing sports?
Nothing! Depending upon the sport, there’s nothing wrong with girls playing sports, either.
Here’s the problem. Once a school joins a sports league, the players WILL be exposed directly and deliberately to co-ed teams, to single sex teams that wear immodest athletic uniforms, to parents, friends, family of other teams who may behave in an unCatholic manner. They will have to accept and obey the coaches of the competing schools—-again, a possible problem. When a school joins an organization, the participating students presume approval of the activities and practices. Unless there is a sports league where the players will not be exposed to major departures from Catholic morality, the children will get the message that the school, the church, and their parents approve. If they have found a sports league with such high standards, I’d like to know about it!
If the parents’ motivation is for their child to go to college on a sports scholarship, for example, because the child truly has extraordinary talent, then they should enroll him in a team as a private individual in order that he alone is exposed to various unCatholic issues. The parents can prepare, teach, and control when and with whom he competes. As a rule, I do not think major sports is a proper vocational plan for a traditional Catholic, but there can be exceptions. If parents want the school to belong to a sports league for public prestige, shame on them. They need not be surprised when their star athlete leaves religion upon turning 18 or moving out.
Why not organize an intramural sports program? It needn’t be confined to one small school. Homeschooled children from the chapel, children from the chapel-run school, even community children whose parents are willing to abide by Catholic standards can play. No, it won’t be like playing sports for a big public high school. It won’t lead to prestige or money, but so what?
The purpose of sports, IMHO, should be to foster physical health, coordination, mastery of a physical skill, teamwork, camaraderie, and good sportsmanship. NOT acceptable, co-ed teams above 3rd grade, immodest or unisex uniforms, obnoxious parental behavior like booing, fighting, cussing out the coach...sports not suited to sex, ie, girls wrestling, boys cheerleading, being overly competitive to the point where the sport usurps more important activities or monopolizes time, or a sport that involves great expense so that money is misused or children who’d like to participate cannot afford it.
In my experience, intramural sports can be clean, healthy fun. A sports league? Most of the time, the wrong things are emphasized. Did not St. Paul say that physical exercise profits little? He did not say, “not at all,” lest someone accuse me of being a Jansenist. He said, “a little.” So, yes, go ahead and play a little sports, but keep it balance. Will playing help me save my soul? The answer can be yes if the fruit is on the good list.