{"id":6652,"date":"2023-03-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/2023\/03\/01\/the-bigger-win\/"},"modified":"2023-03-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T00:00:00","slug":"the-bigger-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/2023\/03\/01\/the-bigger-win\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bigger Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mustangs, Oakwood Adventist Academy\u2019s varsity boys\u2019 basketball team, was having an excellent season. In fact, the best season in the team\u2019s history. By February 2022, for the first time ever, they\u2019d fought their way to the semifinals of the state championship. They were prepared, focused, and eager to travel to Jacksonville, Alabama, for their shot at the state championship.<\/p>\n

But fate, in the form of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA)\u2014the state organization that oversees interscholastic sports\u2014stepped in between the team and its hopes. <\/p>\n

On the eve of the game the AHSAA refused to sanction an easy schedule change\u2014one that had already been agreed between the three other teams involved. The change would have allowed the Mustangs to both play in the semi\u00adfinals and<\/i> stay true to their deeply held religious beliefs. <\/p>\n

As Seventh-day Adventists, the team members had always refrained from competitive sports during their Sabbath, which they observe each week from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. Now they were faced with a stark choice: abandon their religious convictions or forfeit the chance to compete.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s unhesitating decision in favor of their faith hit state and national headlines. They were praised not only for their strength of character but also for their sportsmanship in the face of what was, for them, a crushing disappointment. On the Saturday the Mustangs had been scheduled to play, the whole team turned up at the stadium in Jacksonville, after sunset, to cheer the other teams.<\/p>\n

Seven months later, after attorneys from the Adventist Church and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed suit, the AHSAA finally responded to legal and public pressure. It amended its rules, creating a process to accommodate religious holy days when scheduling games. <\/p>\n

But, as with most religious freedom gains, this change was hard won. It happened only because a group of young men was prepared to make a difficult choice and to stand for their faith, come what may.<\/p>\n

Anton Dormer<\/strong> is a recent graduate of George Washington University Law School and an alumnus of Oakwood Adventist Academy. He currently works for the Church-State Council, a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Sacramento, California. During his senior year, Anton was captain of the Oakwood Academy Mustangs. <\/p>\n

Coach Calvin Morton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anton recently sat down for a conversation with Eleazar Williams<\/strong>, a senior member of the Mustangs, who was accompanied by the team\u2019s coach, Calvin Morton<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Anton: Coach Morton and Eleazar Williams, thank you both for taking time to speak with me today. To start, what\u2019s your record for the season?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: We\u2019re pretty good. We\u2019ve won a good number of games. We have a winning record. We\u2019re six and three [6\u20133].<\/p>\n

Anton: Eleazar, please tell me a little bit about your background as a Seventh-day Adventist.<\/p>\n

Eleazar: Well, I\u2019ve been in Adventist education basically my whole life. My dad\u2019s a pastor, so I\u2019ve moved around a lot. But I\u2019ve really just found a home here in Huntsville. I\u2019ve been here since second grade, and I\u2019ve been playing with the same coach, Coach Allen, since third grade. He\u2019s really grown us as players and as people.<\/p>\n

Anton: Eleazar, please tell me what happened to the Oakwood Adventist Academy team at last year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

Eleazar: At the beginning of my junior year the team\u2019s goal was to win a state championship. We had a good chance to do it. We went to the area tournament, which starts with playoffs. It\u2019s the four teams that we play in the off-\u00adseason. We lost in the area championship, but we still advanced to the finals. We traveled up to a school named Skyline, and we won in overtime by four or five.<\/p>\n

We were excited because that meant that we got to advance and go play at Jacksonville State University in the regional game, in the regional tournament. But then our game was set for 4:30 on Saturday, before the sun set, so we weren\u2019t able to play because of the Sabbath.<\/p>\n

It really hurt, because we had a good group of guys\u2014guys who had been playing together since we were young. We were prepared. We were mentally ready to win the state championship, and it just got snatched from us.<\/p>\n

Anton: When you learned the team couldn\u2019t play, what was going on in everyone\u2019s minds?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: Since it was a Saturday, we thought, Maybe they\u2019ll change it. We didn\u2019t know if they were going to officially say no. We still had time to plead the case.<\/p>\n

But then eventually we just had to come to terms with the decision that we were not going to play. We knew what we believed. And so, since that\u2019s what we believed, we had to stand on it and know that God would bless us in the future.<\/p>\n

Anton: How did this experience affect your faith?<\/p>\n

On the evening of Feb. 19, 2022, the team congratulates the winners of the semifinal at Jacksonville Stadium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eleazar: Honestly, it was a really hard time, especially for me, with me and God. It was something that we\u2019d worked so hard for. We weren\u2019t able to participate and use the abilities we\u2019d worked on, the abilities God blessed us with. We asked ourselves, Why is God doing this to us now?<\/p>\n

But what I came to understand from God was that sometimes the bigger lesson is not the win but the player that you create along the way. So you have your ups and downs and your losses and your wins. But that loss, in particular, really made all of us on the team better people. And that\u2019s more important than us actually winning state.<\/p>\n

Anton: Wow. That is powerful. So, now where are you in your relationship with God? And how are you a better player because of your experience?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: I feel control with everything I\u2019m doing on the court because when I put God at the center of everything I\u2019m doing, when I\u2019m playing I\u2019m not nervous. I know that I\u2019ve prepared. I know that I\u2019ve talked to God about this. I talk to God about what I\u2019m going to do, how I\u2019m going to do it, and it\u2019s like He\u2019s going to bless my hard work.<\/p>\n

Anton: What was the result of the team standing for their faith in the Sabbath?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: It was a surprise to see how big the story got. At first we were on local news, as we expected, but then eventually as Tuesday and Wednesday came around, we\u2019re on CNN, reporters are coming to the school, we\u2019re getting letters from the state governor, churches are sending us stuff, Oakwood University sent us to a Memphis Grizzlies game. And the impact was felt not just for us and our school; it impacted how the world views Adventists.<\/p>\n

Anton: Based on the results you\u2019ve just described, would you still have wanted to win the state championship?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: The places that we got to go, the things we saw, the people we met\u2014we wouldn\u2019t have been able to do that if we had simply won the state tournament. And so I feel that God was showing us that sometimes, in your losses, you get bigger rewards than in your wins.<\/p>\n

Soon after the Oakwood Academy Mustangs forfeited their playoff game, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey invited the team to visit her office in Montgomery. She praised the athletes for their integrity and pledged to do more to ensure that principles of religious freedom were upheld throughout the state.Less than a year later, on January 20, 2023, the governor signed Executive Order 733, \u201cPromoting and Defending Religious Liberty Through Implementation of the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment.\u201d The order sets out legal principles protecting religious liberty that must be implemented by the state of Alabama. The order impacts not only state employees, but also professionals and businesses holding a government license, state contractors, grant recipients, and recipients of government benefits.In a press release announcing the new order the governor\u2019s office highlighted the Oakwood Academy case and the team\u2019s meeting with Governor Ivey, adding that \u201creligious freedom is the cornerstone of the American way of life.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anton: Based on this experience, what does religious liberty mean to you?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: It means that I have a choice and other people have a choice to believe what they want to believe. It means that I shouldn\u2019t view other people differently because of what they believe, and others shouldn\u2019t view me any differently, either.<\/p>\n

Anton: How do you think that other Christian teams view you because your team stood for its faith?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: Off the court? It\u2019s a respect thing. On the court, you know, everybody\u2019s trying to win. So off the court, you know, they respect us, we respect them, they know what we did. We can fellowship, we can talk about our beliefs, because we both believe similar things. But on the court everybody\u2019s trying to win. And that\u2019s the main goal on the court.<\/p>\n

Anton: Are you guys going back to the same tournament?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: Yes, sir. This season we\u2019re going to do our best to win each game so that we don\u2019t have to be put in the same situation as before. We\u2019re going to try to win all the way to the state tournament, because this is our last season. A lot of our guys\u2014we have eight seniors\u2014never won the state; our school\u2019s never been in the state tournament. We feel that we have a chance now to make school history. We\u2019ve worked for this. It\u2019s time for our work to be shown on a state stage and on the national stage.<\/p>\n

Anton: Has this experience impacted your career choices? Where you want to go for college? What you want to major in?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: I want to major in sports management. This experience has impacted where I want to go for college. I might stay in the Adventist circle, because it\u2019s going to be a lot harder to go to a different school and be able to make decisions that will keep me on the right path. I want to be in an environment in which it\u2019s easier for me to stay within what I believe without compromising my faith.<\/p>\n

Anton: Where do you see yourself going after college?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: After I get my bachelor\u2019s, I\u2019m either going to try to get my master\u2019s in sports management or try to do sports med. And eventually I want to work my way up to be an athletic director or an athletic trainer, a role in which I can impact players and how they see the world.<\/p>\n

Anton: What would you say to someone who\u2019s struggling with expressing their faith, whether that be on the court, off the court, in their workplace, or around their friends?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: Eventually you just have to make that decision with yourself. You have to be comfortable with yourself. And if you see that your friends aren\u2019t going to accept you, then maybe it\u2019s time to find new friends. If you see that your workplace isn\u2019t going to accept you, then maybe it\u2019s time to find a new workplace. Because if you\u2019re not growing, then it might not be you. It might be the environment you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

Anton: As a leader, what\u2019s the mindset that you\u2019re instilling in the players around you? How are you encouraging them in their faith while you\u2019re in the locker room, while you\u2019re at practice, and while you\u2019re in the game?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: Mostly on the court it comes down to the way you carry yourself. We can\u2019t be out here saying bad words, acting out, crying about stuff. You\u2019ve got to be confident in yourself and what you can do\u2014what you know God has blessed you to do. And we all do that to the best of our ability.<\/p>\n

Anton: Well, those are all the questions that I have. Are there any last things you\u2019d want someone to know about the experience you\u2019ve been through?<\/p>\n

Eleazar: I would say that sometimes your greatest setbacks are your greatest blessings. That\u2019s all I have to say.<\/p>\n

Anton: Coach?<\/p>\n

Coach Morton: You never know who\u2019s watching you. And, like one of the coaches told the guys, you never know when your last game will be played. So put all your effort into the game that you have, that you\u2019re prepared for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mustangs, Oakwood Adventist Academy\u2019s varsity boys\u2019 basketball team, was having an excellent season. In fact, the best season in the team\u2019s history. By February 2022, for the first time ever, they\u2019d fought their way to the semifinals of the state championship. They were prepared, focused, and eager to travel to Jacksonville, Alabama, for their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[352],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-6652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-march-april-2023","tag-march-april-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}