Read Time: 3 min 58 sec | Reading Level: 7th Grade

SPORTS

Nothing But Net

Families around the country have been oohing and ahhing over some great March Madness basketball. 

This season, two schools — North Carolina State and UConn— will have both their men’s and women’s basketball teams playing in the Final Four. That’s a first! There are a lot of records among this year’s final teams.

The four women’s teams play tomorrow. NC State will face South Carolina, which is in the Final Four for the 4th year in a row. Then, UConn will play Iowa. Iowa is led by Caitlin Clark, who holds many records herself, including most college career points for any man or woman. UConn’s best player is Paige Bueckers, who gave a powerful interview after Monday’s game, where she shared about the difficult season her team has gone through (more on this below). 

The men’s teams play Saturday. First, 1-seed Purdue will play 11-seed NC State, which is in the Final Four for the first time since 1983 and is the lowest-seeded team to reach the Final Four. Finally, UConn (last year’s men’s champion) will play Alabama— which is in its first-ever Final Four.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Sports can teach us a lot about everyday life—the value of teamwork, perseverance, and even loyalty as a fan. The commitment of athletes to their sport encourages us to press on as we seek to win an “imperishable crown” at the end of our faith journey, and the joy of fans for their team can give us a foretaste of the greatest celebration in history.

“Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.”
1 Corinthians 9:25 (CSB)

What do I want to make sure my kids know in light of this story?
From the 11-seed NC State men’s team, we can learn that we should never give up.

For nine straight tournament games (including their conference tournament, when they won five games in five days), the NC State Wolfpack began each game saying, “If we lose today, our season is over.” And for nine straight games, they’ve won. It’s one of the most improbable runs in basketball history, and they’ll again face long odds on Saturday when they play 1-seed Purdue. 

The joy of following sports is often about seeing an underdog beat the odds to win. This team is a great reminder to not give up when we face challenging odds — you never know what might happen!

What biblical lesson can be taught through this story?
From UConn’s star player Paige Bueckers, we can learn that God is still at work even when we face adversity.

Watch this 2-minute interview from Monday night after Paige’s team advanced to the Final Four. Paige missed all of last season after she tore her ACL. This season, five of her teammates’ seasons ended due to injury. It seemed impossible that the team could recover and succeed. Paige said that it happened “to build my character” and shared, “I did all I could, so God could do all I can’t.”

James 1:2-3 says: “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” It’s an encouraging reminder to not lose hope or faith in the midst of a trial. UConn may or may not win the championship, but that’s not the point — the point is trusting that God is with you and at work, even when life is hard.

Talk as a family about lessons you’ve learned through sports or another shared family activity like games, music, or travel.

 
Memorize James 1:2-3: “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (CSB).

Pray for the Christian athletes and coaches in the tournament that they’ll continue to set a good example for their teammates and others of what it looks like to follow Christ in everything they do.

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