Balance4Success project seeks to keep Sundays for family, not sports

Published: 2005-10-19

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- Seeking to restore balance to family life, a parents' group in Minnesota hopes to recapture Sunday as a day for families, not organized sports. "Coaches are interested in scheduling as much play time as they possibly can," said Andrea Grazzini Walstrom, founder of the group called Balance4Success. "Sunday is just another day they can use to get kids out playing." The Balance4Success initiative "Taking Back Sunday" seeks a boycott of sports practices, games and tournaments scheduled on Sundays, starting June 1. "We're just trying to force the athletic system to think a little differently," said Terrie Pearson, a parishioner at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville and the mother of three children. "It has gotten out of hand. They're just kids." Sunday sports steal valuable time from the family, said Grazzini Walstrom, mother of two children. Although sports can bring "great benefits" for children, such as social skills and lessons in responsibility and leadership, "those aren't the only skills we want them to have. We want them to understand family connectivity," she said.

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