Question:
Answer:
No they’re not sinful, either to participate in or to attend as a spectator.
Some may think such Sunday participation is sinful because Protestant sensibilities regarding the Lord’s Day have long reigned in the United States. The Catholic Church agrees that needless shopping should be avoided, and so that we shouldn’t needlessly burden people in working on Sunday.
The Church takes a different perspective regarding restaurant and sporting events (see CCC 2187).
Some may counter with the example of the British Christian runner “Eric Liddell,” whose story was depicted in the movie “Chariots of Fire,” which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1982. Liddell refused to run in events on Sundays during the 1924 Parish Olympics because of his perspective on the Third Commandment. He thus didn’t compete in the 100 or 4×400-meter relay, but did win the 400-meter dash and placed in the third in 200.
As Catholics, we can commend Liddell for doing what we did to honor God, but we would disagree with him on his interpretation of keeping holy the Sabbath/Lord’s Day. The Church has long seen Sunday sporting events as an opportunity to give joyful witness to the Lord. Consequently, Catholic athletes have never been obligated to miss Olympic events on Sundays, and I’m not aware of any Protestant competitor in the four major professionals sports league in the United States—NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL—who abstain from playing on Sundays, and there are a good number of devout Protestant Christians in those respective leagues.
Similarly, as a youngster playing Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) football in the Detroit Catholic League, we would participate in Sunday Mass and then participate in our late-morning football games. We kept things in proper perspective, with “Faith, Family and Football,” in that order, and thus playing football was a positively formative experience for us, our parents and our other classmates.
Consequently, enjoy Sunday Catholic school sporting events, whether as a participant or spectactor!