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Thomas Cronin of St. Joseph's parish in Greenfield Center has been coaching youth sports for more than a decade. As a father of two, he has children playing sports in all three athletic seasons, for both school-sponsored and travel teams -- yet the family still manages to go to church every weekend.

Sadly, that isn't the case for many families today. In a push to get families back to attending Mass, St. Joseph's evangelization committee began making phone calls to parishioners they hadn't seen at Mass recently -- "just a casual call," said Deacon Gary Picher, parish life director. "These family members are our friends, and now we're not seeing them anymore."

Mr. Cronin is a committee member. In making the calls, "I found this recurring theme that youth sports were influencing their availability to attend Sunday Mass," he said.

The coach decided to create "Pray 60," a campaign to encourage other coaches to not schedule games or practices until after 1 p.m. on Sundays. A play on the National Football League's "Play 60" exercise campaign for children, Pray 60 also refers to the average number of minutes it takes to attend Mass each week.

"We love sports, but we love God more!" declares the campaign's website, www.pray60.info.

"I wanted something catchy," said Mr. Cronin, who has experience with slogans: He's also director of sales at Gracenote, an entertainment technology company.

As a coach, Mr. Cronin has control over when his teams practice, but he noted that "most families don't have a say" in when their children have sports practice.

"The really sad part is that youth sports are taking over people's lives," he added.

For many families, youth sports can be the gateway to win athletic scholarships to college. "Nobody wants to be blacklisted," Mr. Cronin told The Evangelist.

Making a sports team "forces [families] to make a choice to either go to church or [have children] miss a practice," agreed Mark Flemming of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Saratoga Springs. He's a fan of the Pray 60 campaign, which is an interfaith effort.

Mr. Flemming's three children all played sports throughout their high school years; his youngest son is currently playing travel baseball and basketball. He said all youth sports affect Sunday worship.

Mr. Flemming's oldest son played varsity lacrosse in high school. One year, "his coach decided to hold a practice on Easter Sunday," the father recalled. "Even though it was in the afternoon, it was still the holiest day of the year. [The coach] didn't hold practice on Saturdays because that was the day he wanted off.

"Of course, it being Easter, we told the coach that our son wouldn't be at practice." Although the coach didn't cut any of the player's game time, Mr. Flemming said it was still an uncomfortable situation for the family.

Pray 60 is meant to encourage parents to speak up about keeping Sundays holy. Mr. Cronin has spoken at local churches of various denominations about the campaign and said he's gotten uniformly positive responses. He noted that this is a problem that takes a toll on all faiths.

"It's OK to speak up," he said. "It's going to make a difference."

(For more information, see www.pray60.info or contact Mr. Cronin at [email protected].)[[In-content Ad]]

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