Have you had to make a choice between attending church, or taking your child to sports activities? Maybe you've been lucky enough to avoid the decision so far, with no games on Sunday, or religious services on Saturdays.

If your child is young and you have only signed up for recreation leagues on Saturdays so far, your time will come.

Up until last year our family didn't have to make that decision very often. Little League and recreational leagues didn't interfere with church services. Then along came AAU baseball, and things changed.

It was easy to say back then that our committment to attending church services would not be comprimised, and we would never give in to the leagues that play on Sunday mornings. We drove by Youngsville's fields in Manchester every Sunday on our way to church, and watched as hundreds of parents filled the parking lots, unloading cheerleaders and football players. I said at that time I would never be one of those parents.

Growing up in the upper Midwest, my parents never had to make that decision. There were no sporting activities on Sundays. A greater percentage of the population attended church, and that's the way we lived. In the small town I grew up in, there were only Saturday recreational leagues to play in, outside of school sports. But when we moved to New England, we found many more opportunities for sporting activities, seven days a week.

Well, I stuck to my words, sort of. My son never played football at Youngsville. But he did sign up to play with the NH Grizzlies AAU baseball team. For two years now we have traveled on weekends to local baseball fields, passing by churches filled with parishners on Sunday mornings. I feel guilty knowing I am not attending church, but that decision had to be made for my son to play on the team. AAU double-header games are played on Saturdays and Sundays.

Now my faith hasn't disappeared. Our family has just taken some time off from attending services. Occassionally games will get cancelled, rained out or start later in the day, which enables us to make it to church. As soon as the season is over, we are back on a regular basis.

What's your opinion about holding sporting activities on Sundays? Did you have to make the choice? Did you give in to the pressure of athletics for children?

-Bob Hammerstrom