DesotoExplorer.com

Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that allowing students to lead a stadium in prayer before football games violated the separation of church and state rule required by the constitution, the ruling will not likely affect the athletes at DeSoto High.

"The ruling does not restrict a student the ability or freedom to pray. The total ramifications of this is that they cannot have a prayer read over the public address system," said David Smale, director of communications for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Smale said the FCA was displeased with the ruling, saying that the athletes and other students should have the right to choose to pray.

"We are very disappointed with the ruling. The Supreme Court has taken the First Amendment out of context," Smale said. "Anyone who doesn't want to participate doesn't participate."

Smale said the ruling did not restrict team prayer in the locker rooms or individual prayers on the fields.

"That would definitely be a slap in the face of the constitution," Smale said. "I don't think you can separate a person's faith from what they do. If people want to pray, they are going to pray and God's going to listen."

Because the ruling does not restrict team or individual prayer and DeSoto High does not participate in stadium-wide prayer, the students and players from DeSoto will not be affected directly.

"We just took a knee and had a silent moment," said Justin Haub, a junior football player at DeSoto High. "I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I don't think it's hurting anybody."

He said this was the first year he had been on a team that participated in any kind of religious observance, but he would continue to pray before the games even if there were a restriction on team prayer in the future.

Football teams, both past and present, seem to have a strong link to both prayer and moments of silence. Hollywood portrays these religious practices in movies such as "Rudy" and, more recently, "Varsity Blues." Even the National Football League teams have team chaplains who can be seen along the sidelines. And it's not uncommon for the NFL players to gather in circles of prayer on the field.

In fact, Brad Scott, the new head football coach at DeSoto High, said that every football team he had been a part of had taken part in a pre-game prayer.

"I have never had anybody say that they did not want to participate or take part in it," Scott said. "That's a personal choice, though. There would be no repercussion if they didn't participate."

This fall Scott will take over for George Raddell, who will be the coach at Mill Valley, and he will need to decide how the team will handle pre-game prayer. Scott said he would review the court's ruling and what the school district wanted before he could come to a decision.

"I would like to do it. It is something that I always thought was important," Scott said. "But at the same time I need to follow the district rules."

A main concern lies in the appropriateness of prayer and where the prayer takes place, Smale said. And he said athletic events were no different from other aspects of a student's daily life.

"I think (prayer) belongs wherever a person feels it's important," Smale said. "It belongs if that person decides it does."