Spark

Calvin basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek has made sharing his love of sports central to his teaching and coaching. Now he hopes to share it even more widely through his newest book, Time Out! Sport-themed Devotionals for Younger Athletes (Calvin Alumni Association, 2017).

“This book was written for elementary school children—and for anyone, really—with the idea that play was created by God, that we should have fun while playing, and how we can use our play to honor and glorify him,” said Vande Streek.

The 52 short devotionals demonstrate sport and life lessons based on themes such as persistence, preparation, leadership, following the rules, respecting your opponents, dedication and trust.

“I think sport in our society continues to move further away from Christian principles—and not just at the highest levels, where we read about performance-enhancing drugs, misuse of money or power, and overzealous fans,” he said. “We see coaches, parents and fans with a win-at-all-cost mentality in youth sports as well.

“Time Out! was written as a way to help growing kids form a Christian perspective on play. It is important to know why we play, how we play and who we are playing for.”