God comes before the game
Teenager Mosiah Macdonald expected to be at the national basketball championships in Wellington with his Manawatū teammates this week.
Instead, he’s training alone at a primary school in Foxton, after putting Sunday morning church ahead of practice.
The 15-year-old and his family claim he was dropped from the under-17s team because he committed to attending only one of the two Sunday training sessions, due to his religious beliefs.
The Macdonalds are Mormons, and The Church of Latter Day Saints considers Sunday a holy day reserved for Sabbath practices.
Though the Macdonalds are prepared to do other activities on Sundays after worship, or to miss the occasional service, the prospect of a full two months without church was a step too far for Mosiah.
‘‘It’s a bit frustrating,’’ he said. Mosiah has been playing basketball since he was about 2 years old, and Steven Adams is one of his heroes.
He attends Manukura special character school in Palmerston North for its strengths in highperformance sport and academics, and his dream is to attend a college in the United States. He is also in the 25-strong squad looking to be named for the national under-16s team, although whether he makes the final cut down to 20 could be affected by his non-performance for Manawatū at the under-17s tournament.
The plan started unravelling in May, when Manawatū Basketball coach Robert Hartley changed the training schedule from 4pm on Sundays, to sessions at 10am and 2pm on Sundays.
His dad Jared Macdonald stepped in, and after talking it over, sent a message to the coach.
Sunday afternoons would be fine, and so would a couple of Sunday mornings close to tournament time. That was the compromise.
‘‘He said that was a dealbreaker. He said he could not have someone on the team who would only commit to half the training,’’ Macdonald said.
The family came up with an alternative, for Mosiah to claim a vacancy in the Hawke’s Bay under-17s squad.
That involved a lot of travelling, but he was prepared to make it work – that was until the move was blocked.
An out-of-the-region player would not be allowed.
‘‘Now he has no opportunity to go to the nationals, not because of lack of talent or ability, but because he chooses to go to church.’’
Stuff tried to contact coach Hartley but was put on to Basketball Manawatū chairwoman Tess Petley. She said she was surprised the Macdonalds and Hartley had not negotiated a compromise. ‘‘The decision was not based on the fact he was Mormon. I feel a bit sad if that’s what they are thinking.’’