FAQ

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• General Questions:
• Parent's questions:

General Questions:

Q: Many families consider time at extracurricular activities on Sunday to be quality family time. Are you saying it's not?

• Each family has to decide what "family time" means to them and where and how they spend it.
• But many families tell us that they are overscheduled with extracurricular activities, that this is creating stress and affecting the quality of family life, and that they would like to have Sundays back as a day of rest.

Q: Are you trying to change sports programs?

• We are trying to empower parents to make decisions to create balance in their families.
• That said, some sports programs may decide to change their schedules to better meet the needs of athletes and their families.

Q: If a team can't field enough players on Sunday due to this boycott, isn't that unfair to kids whose families want them playing on Sundays?

• As long as everyone knows going into the season who will play on Sundays and who will not, there is no unfairness. This is one reason why we are announcing the boycott well enough in advance of sign up times for next summer.
• Each league and team can make its own decision about playing with fewer athletes or not scheduling games on Sundays.

Q: If teams in this community don't play on Sundays, how will they compete against teams from other communities that do?

• It remains to be seen how skipping one day will affect competitiveness. There is some evidence that the rest players get by having a scheduled day off may in fact enhance their play.
• Perhaps other communities will follow suit and take back their Sundays as well.
• With the record number of children playing sports, teams need to be able to play on Sunday to accommodate them all.
• Teams may choose to reduce their overall play time schedules.

Q: Why Sundays?

• Sundays are a traditional day of rest in our culture and community and is recognized as such by education and governmental authorities, employers, and many faith communities.
• The Minnesota State High School League and the NCAA do not play on Sundays.
• By choosing one specific day, parents make it easier for coaches to factor their child's absence into team schedules.

Q: Are you saying everyone should attend religious services on Sundays?

• Our only objective is that families feel empowered to reserve Sundays to be together for connection, relaxation and family-focused time.
• Families may choose to do what they wish on Sundays. For some that will include services, for others it won't.

Q: Churches seem to be promoting you. Are you a religious or conservative organization?

• We are not a religious organization or affiliated with one.
• We have no political or religious agenda; the parent leaders involved in our group come from various faith traditions and political perspectives.
• Our sole objective to promote balance in kids' lives and closer family bonds.
• Churches support what we are doing because it is in line with many of their missions to encourage family connection and values. Schools support us because they know that family connection is good for kids' academic performance. Public Health and pediatricians supports us because they know that balance contributes to kids' physical and mental health. The Dakota County Attorney's office and local police groups support us because they know that kids with reduced stress and liberal family time are less likely to engage in risky behaviors.

Q: Why sports? Why not other activities?

• While other activities may be excessive, sports are what we hear the most complaints about, by far. Sports in our community seem to have a more rigid culture of expectations than many other activities seem to have.
• Some parents, while they are boycotting sports, may choose to boycott other organized activities on Sundays, as well.

Q: Are you anti-sports?

• We see organized sports as one valuable component of a child's development. But many kids are spending so much time in sports these days that they are missing out on other, critical developmental activities,such as time to connect with parents, families and communities,time to work, study and spend with friends. And time to rest, recover and develop self-direction skills.
• Part of being on a team is being available to play when the team needs you. These kids would be cheating their teams.
• The teams have options that would not cheat anyone: recruit enough players so that the team can play on Sundays without a full roster, or reconsider scheduling play on Sundays.
• Some parents feel cheated on family time when their kids are chronically over-scheduled.

Q: Sports participation has been proven to be very beneficial for children. How can you deny them any opportunity to play?

• Excessive play can be detrimental to children's physical and mental health. If children are denied adequate rest during the week, parents are wise to schedule it on Sundays for their child's wellbeing.
• Colleges are now reducing their activities requirements on applications. They've found that children who are over-busy arrive at college to burnt out to learn optimally and more likely to engage in risk behavior like binge drinking.
• Childhood obesity is becoming a serious health problem. How can you deny children the physical activity that they could be getting on Sundays.
• A child that is regularly participating in sports during the week will be improving their physical health. A day of rest can help them from burning out and quitting sports altogether as 70% of middle schoolers and 90% of high schoolers do.
• There are many other ways children can get exercise than in organized sports, including pick up games with siblings and neighbor kids, visits to playgrounds or water parks can be just as beneficial as playing on a team.
• Parents concerned about their children's health might engage in some physical activity together, like hiking or biking, as a family on Sundays. This would have the added benefit of parents modeling good lifelong exercise habits for children.

Parent's questions:

Q: What do I tell the leader/coach?

• We believe that family time is the best extracurricular activity for our kids and have decided to devote Sundays to family time.
• Our child is committed to fully participating in this activity on all days but Sunday.
• We believe it will help your scheduling to know in advance when our child won't be playing.
• We hope you won't penalize our child for this.
• Please let us know if you have any policy that might affect our child if s/he misses Sunday activities.

Q: What if they threaten to penalize my kid?

• You can express your disappointment to them.
• You can complain to their superiors.
• You can record their threat and share it with Balance4Success, who can go with multiple complaints to organization leaders.
• You can express your disappointment to other organization parents who might support you to the leader.
• You can discuss with your child the importance of balance and the trade-offs it requires.
• You can remind them that the Minnesota State High School League and the NCAA don't play on Sunday.

Q: What do I tell my kids who want to participate in extracurricular activities on Sundays?

• It might be helpful to have a series of discussions about this with kids.
• Explain to them that family time is critical for kids and that overscheduling has been proven to contribute to stress and depression.
• Remind kids that media stars and athletes often participated in far fewer activities than kids today do.
• Remind them that the State High School League and NCAA prohibit play on Sundays.
• Assure them that as a family you'll find fun things to do on Sunday…including time to relax and do nothing. Involve them in deciding on relaxing activities for Sundays.
• Consider adopting some Sunday rituals for kids to look forward to (pizza night, bike ride day, movie night, game night.)
• If sports is their thing, tell them that repetitive stress injuries could derail their playing time if they play too much.
• Play sports in the backyard as a family.