Archdiocese of Detroit Ends Youth Sports on Sundays

In keeping with the Catholic precept of recognizing Sunday as a day of rest, the Archdiocese of Detroit is doing away with youth sports on that day.

According to the Detroit Free Press, youth sports under the Catholic High School League (CHSL) and Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) will be set aside on Sundays to make more time for worship, officials said. 

The policy, which was issued Wednesday, was developed over the past two years. It had been communicated to athletic directors as early as June 2017. The sports schedule will be shifted to Monday through Saturday.

There are approximately 6,500 CHSL student athletes and 7,000 CYO athletes in counties under the Archdiocese of Detroit — which includes Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, Monroe St. Clair and Lapeer counties — as well as students in Washtenaw County who are not part of the archdiocese, according to the Free Press.

"In shifting away from the hustle of required sporting activities on Sunday, we will reclaim this holy day and create more time for families to choose activities that prioritize time spent with each other and our Lord," Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said in his pastoral note. 

Vigneron said the move was an effort to “reclaim Sunday.”

“The decision from Archbishop Vigneron, following an unprecedented level of consultation, marks a major shift for our Archdiocese. It is a time for us to see everything we do through the lens of forming a band of missionary disciples,” Father Stephen Pullis, director of the Archdiocese’s Department of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools, said in a release announcing the change.