Dr. Bill Thierfelder
Sports as a means of developing virtue
By: Rick Handford
    
                          
Trent Merchant introduced Dr. Bill Thierfelder, current President of Belmont Abbey College, whose other achievements are too numerous to list in this article, but which may be found on the Wikipedia page on Dr. William K Thierfelder. In addition to the accomplishments listed there, Dr. Thierfelder was also a two-time all-American high jumper at the University of Maryland and a member of the US Track & Field indoor national championship team and was an Olympic athlete. All of this was promptly forgotten when Trent mentioned that he was also the proud husband of Mary and father of their ten children. He is also the driving force behind an organization called Sports Properly Directed, a movement for virtue in sports.
 
Dr. Thierfelder began with a brief introduction to Belmont Abbey College, founded 134 years ago and based on the Benedictine traditions of hospitality and virtue in all endeavors, embodied in the motto "So that in all things God may be glorified". He extended an invitation to all present to come out to the college for a visit, and perhaps have a cup of coffee at the Holy Grounds Coffee House. He noted that Belmont Abbey is ranked number one in growth among independent colleges in North Carolina, and that the enrollment has doubled in size over the last five years. Their Honors Institute is one of the best in the country, focusing on exceptional students that are balanced in mind, body and spirit. While the college's largest program is business, they have a program on entrepreneurship, and their biology program places 100% of applicants in veterinary and pharmacy programs and 90% of applicants in medical schools.
 
He then proceeded to make a case for sports as a means of developing virtue. While professional sports has today become the poster child for vice, with pride, envy, sloth and greed prominently displayed; this is not because all of the people in sports are bad, in fact many or most are good. But this is not what we see. While most people agree that sports is a means for developing virtue in athletes, they tolerate the vice in other areas of an athlete's life as being separate from the excellence in athletic performance. We are enabling vice in sports by continuing to support good athletes in the face of their bad conduct in other areas.
 
Sport impacts the whole world. It is a $20 billion industry that influences all of us, including our children. The problems are not only with pro sports, but also in colleges, high schools, and all the way down into elementary schools.
 
A significant motivator for his campaign for virtue in sports came from watching overzealous parents and coaches at a son's elementary school basketball game. His son's team was obviously overmatched by a team from a much larger school. With two minutes to go and his son's team trailing by 32 points, the other team's coach was "jumping up and screaming 'Press! Press!'"
 
"Guess what happens?" he asked. "They press, they steal the ball, they score again, now they're up by 34 points. And all the parents in the stands are screaming in praise of their athletes…and I'm thinking, 'am I in the Twilight Zone?' What were these people thinking? How did this happen?" This caused him to start a website called 'Reclaim the Game'. Coaches are supposed to be teachers and mentors, not just winners. He seeks to produce not world class athletes or good people, but world class athletes that are good people.
 
He defined virtue as the habit of doing good. Categories of virtue include the Intellectual, Moral, and Theological. World class performance is only one intellectual virtue. We need to speak the language of virtue and tolerate nothing less than virtuous living, of which virtue in performance is only a small part.
 
As an exercise, he asked us to list those things that are invaluable in our lives, things that are beyond worth. Most people could not come up with more than three in thirty seconds. But did we include such simple and necessary items as the brain stem, or our left and right retinas, our family members? If we took the time to list all such items, the lists wouldn't fit in a truck.
 
By way of example, he used the virtue of humility, expressed in the belief that "I am nothing, I have nothing, I know nothing. If I'm standing next to God, what am I bragging about?" He noted that he should write a book about how to achieve zero self-esteem. Self-esteem as currently taught is focused on self. But most problems in life are because we look inside too much. If you concentrate on helping others, then you have very few problems.
 
How often would we say "that was very magnanimous of you?" Nobody talks this way because we don't use the language of virtue. But if we have humility, then we can accept praise for performance because we understand that that performance comes from God. Magnanimity is the ability to accept human honors appropriately.
 
Sports is about the development of the whole person, in body, mind, and soul. We are missing something if we try to deal with these separately. An example of this is good stewardship of your body, so that you can be strong and healthy enough to help others. Each of us should help each other to overcome our weaknesses.
 
He spoke of teaching an NFL receiver to be thankful in all things, and of teaching golfers to putt with their eyes closed, allowing focus on knowing where the ball is after the stroke as a way of shutting out the 70% of human attention that is used in processing visual inputs. In both cases he was teaching the athletes to know what they were doing and how it differed from what they wanted to achieve, which is the only way to achieve positive change.
 
He closed with a quote from Pope Pius XII, who said, "Sports, properly directed, develops character, makes a man courageous, a generous loser, and a gracious victor: it refines the senses, gives intellectual penetration, and steels the will to endurance. It is not merely a physical development then. Sport, rightly understood, is an occupation of the whole man, and while perfecting the body as an instrument of the mind, it also makes the mind itself a more defined instrument for the search and communication of truth and helps man to achieve that end to which all others must be subservient, the service and praise of his Creator."
  
 
Head Table: Russell Ranson, Joni Davis, John Snyder, Trent Merchant, James Tolliver, Jim Kelley;
Invocation: Meg McElwain;
Visitors & Guests: Lynn Wheeler; Health & Happiness: Ken Poe; Song: Biff Virkler; Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel
 

• Bob Johnston, Superior Court Judge, has announced his retirement; Fernando Ycaza and Courtney Morrison will be married April 24th at River Hills Community Church; Haitian relief checks payable to The Rotary Foundation DAF and mailed to the Rotary office.
   
• John Johnson continues to improve and should be released from Presbyterian Hospital this week; Sylvia Van Hoy remains at CMC (3904 Dickson Tower, CMC Main) and Phil is doing a good job of keeping everyone updated. Best to all of you!
 
• ROTARY DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2010 will be held in Wilmington April 23-25. All Rotarians and their families are invited to attend. Reservations can be booked at the Hilton Riverside, 910-763-5900. Prior to March 22, the rate will be $169 per night. Conference registration rates for Rotarians: $175 (by 2/23), $195 (by 3/22) or $225 (by 4/16). Guest registration: $155 (by 2/23), $175 (by 3/22), $195 (by 4/16). The registration covers 4 meals: Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast & dinner, and Sunday breakfast. Registration can be handled on the District database (dacdb.com) 
                        
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
     
• Junior Achievement Biz Town: Volunteers are needed to work at JA's Biz Town on Friday, January 29. Contact Jay Westmoreland, jay.westmoreland@smithbarney.com, for additional information or signup HERE.
  
• Levine Children's Hospital Tour: BG Metzler is coordinating a tour of Levine Children's Hospital on Thursday, January 28, 2010. The tour will take about 45 minutes and you have your choice of attending at 10:00 AM or 2:00 PM. Contact BG at bobnbg@earthlink.net.

Should you question the eligibility of any nominee, contact the Rotary office by 1/25/2010.